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
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]
VWL335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 191107-- [July 1911]
VWL341 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 19130609 June 9th [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]
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]
VWL354 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19220608 June 8 [1922]
VWL355 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19220614 June 14th [1922]
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
VWL359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19191127 27/11/19
VWL363 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19100509 [9th May 1910]
VWL364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Reeves 19100512 [12 May 1910]
VWL365 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19100715 [About 15th July 1910]
VWL366 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Charrington 19101112 [12th November 1910]
VWL367 Letter from A.E. Housman to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19101203 3 Dec. l910
VWL369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19110429 Apr. 29/11
VWL370 Letter from Charles Hubert Parry to Margaret Vaughan Williams 19110519 May 19. 1911
VWL371 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Thompson 19110608 June 8th [1911]
VWL373 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19110708 [8th July 1911]
VWL380 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19120119 Jan 19th [1912]
VWL381 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19120118 [18th January 1912]
VWL382 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19120401 Monday [1st April 1912]
VWL385 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580811 11 August 1958
VWL387 Letter from Arthur Somervell to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19130204 4.2.13.
VWL388 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 19131103 [About 3 November 1913]

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