Search the letters

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has made over 5000 items freely available: chiefly letters from Ralph Vaughan Williams, but including some responses which shed light on the subject matter, and also a number of letters from Adeline and Ursula Vaughan Williams. These provide further information and often include messages or observations from Ralph, and there are also letters from Adeline and Ursula written on behalf of the couple. The text of letters written by RVW and UVW remain the copyright of the Foundation.

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The letters are in tabular form and can be sorted by column, or filtered by any keyword including name, musical title, year or subject (singly or in combination). Partial matches will also be found, e.g. searching “sky” will also find “Stravinsky”. To search for a phrase use inverted commas, e.g. “New York”.

To search by letter number, include the prefix VWL, e.g. VWL123.

Filter letters

Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL1572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Dowling 19390703 July 3rd [1939]
VWL1573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390705 [5th July 1939]
VWL1574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390713 July 13 [1939]
VWL1576 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret James 19390722 July 22 [1939]
VWL1577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19410815 Aug 15 [1941]
VWL1579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19410905 Sep 5 [1941]
VWL1580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19410912 Sept 12 [1941?]
VWL1582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411016 Thursday [16th October 1941]
VWL1584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19411106 Nov 6 [1941]
VWL1592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myfanwy Jones 19411130 Nov 30th [1941]
VWL1593 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390726 [26th July, 1939]
VWL1595 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19391003 October 3 [1939]
VWL1596 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myra Hess 19391005 Oct 5 [1939]
VWL1598 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391007 [7th October 1939]
VWL1600 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19391009 [9 October 1939]
VWL1602 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19391010 [10 October 1939]
VWL1604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19411217 Dec 17 1941
VWL1605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391012 [12th October 1939]
VWL1606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Tippett 19411217 Dec 17 [1941]
VWL1607 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19391012 Oct 12 [1939]
VWL1612 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411225 Xmas Day [25th December ?1941]
VWL1614 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19411226 [26 December 1941]
VWL1616 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391019 19th October [1939]
VWL1619 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss M. Goodchild 19391025 Oct 25 [1939]
VWL1621 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elisabeth Lutyens 19391106 Nov 6 [1939]
VWL1623 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the editor of Civil Liberty 19411231 Dec 31 1941
VWL1624 Letter from R.O.Morris to Alice Sumsion 19420103 Jan 3 1942
VWL1625 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19420104 Jan 4 1942
VWL1627 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420111 Jan 11 1942
VWL1630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420126 Jan 26 [1942]

You have never lost your invention but it has not developed enough.  Your best – your most original and beautiful style or ‘atmosphere’ is an indescribable sort of feeling as if one was listening to very lovely lyrical poetry.

GUSTAV HOLST letter to RVW 1903

He was one of the most 'complete' men I have ever known. He loved life, he loved work and his interest in all music was unquenchable and insatiable.

SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI, conductor

I was thunderstruck by the symphony last night - and hadn't expected to be. Jagged, pulsating and angry, from that very first clanging dissonance - how can it have come from the same source as the Tallis Fantasia?

AUDIENCE MEMBER, Newbury Festival