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
VWL2573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19470227 Feb 27 [1947?]
VWL2574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480302 March 2 [1948]
VWL2580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19480318 March 18 [1948]
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL2586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19480402 2nd April, 1948.
VWL2591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480415 April 15 [1948]
VWL2594 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Longman 19480426 April 26 [1948]
VWL2601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Raverat 193----- [1930s?]
VWL2602 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 195210-- [After 12 October 1952]
VWL2603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page and Douglas Lilburn 195210-- [October 1952]
VWL2604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tindall Robertson 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2607 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195211-- [? early November 1952]
VWL2608 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530109 9th January 1953
VWL2609 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19530110 Jan 10 [1953]
VWL2620 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Dowling 19530122 January 22nd 1953.
VWL2621 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19530124 24 Jan [19]53
VWL2622 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19530127 27th January, 1953.
VWL2628 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Hamber 19530128 28th January, 1953.
VWL2630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19530201 [1st February 1953]
VWL2633 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530212 [About 12 February 1953]
VWL2634 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice and Herbert Sumsion 19530201 [1 February 1953]
VWL2642 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney P. Waddington 19530205 [About 5th February 1953]
VWL2643 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19530206 [6 February 1953]
VWL2644 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19530208 8.2.53
VWL2647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A.J. Patterson 19530211 11 Feb. 1953
VWL2648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19530213 [13th February 1953]
VWL2649 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19530214 February 14th 1953.
VWL2650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19530214 February 14th 1953.

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