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
VWL325 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Charrington 191003-- [March 1910]
VWL326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191004-- [April 1910]
VWL327 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191004-- [April 1910]
VWL328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191004-- [April 1910]
VWL329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191006-- [?Middle of 1910]
VWL330 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 1910---- [mid 1910?]
VWL331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Thompson 191009-- [About September 1910]
VWL332 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Thompson 191009-- [About September 1910]
VWL333 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191101-- [Early 1911]
VWL334 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191104-- [April 1911]
VWL335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 191107-- [July 1911]
VWL336 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 191110-- [early October 1911]
VWL337 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191203-- [March 1912]
VWL338 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 191307-- [July 1913]
VWL339 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 191311-- [late November 1913]
VWL340 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19111012 Oct 12th [1911]
VWL342 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19131219 Dec 19th 1913
VWL343 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19131230 [About 30th] Dec. 1913
VWL345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191401-- [Jan 1914?]
VWL346 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19140214 [14th February 1914]
VWL347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19130801 [10 August 1913]
VWL348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191409-- [September 1914]
VWL349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141006 Oct 6th [1914]
VWL350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141006 Oct 14th [1914]
VWL351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191411-- [November 1914]
VWL352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191606-- [June 1916]
VWL353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191606-- [Late June 1916]
VWL356 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191807-- [Summer 1918]
VWL357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 191910-- [?about October 1919 ]
VWL358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19190822 22/8/19

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