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
VWL3467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570221 February 21st 1957.
VWL3469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570303 March 3rd 1957.
VWL3474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570329 March 29th 1957
VWL3477 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570402 April 2nd 1957.
VWL3483 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570426 April 26th 1957.
VWL3513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570512 May 12th 1957.
VWL3520 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570526 May 26th 1957.
VWL3557 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19571126 November 26th 1957.
VWL3601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19571029 October 29th 1957
VWL4080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480414 14th April, 1948.
VWL4105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480716 16th July, 1948.
VWL4106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480708 8th July, 1948.
VWL4107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19490217 17th February, 1949.
VWL4144 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19491207 7th December, 1949.
VWL4145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500322 22nd. March, 1950.
VWL4146 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500330 30th March, 1950.
VWL4147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510517 17th May, 1951.
VWL4148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500503 3rd May, 1950.
VWL4153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 195108-- [August 1951?]
VWL4154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510919 19th September, 1951.
VWL4155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL4156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511118 November 18th 1951.
VWL4159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL4160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520202 2nd. February, 1952.
VWL4161 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520702 2nd. July, 1952.
VWL4162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520709 9th July, 1952.
VWL4164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521008 8th October, 1952.
VWL4165 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530802 August 2nd 1953.
VWL4166 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19540314 March 14th 1954

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