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
VWL2325 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19471008 8th October, 1947
VWL2326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19471013 [13th October 1947]
VWL2327 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19471014 Oct 14th [1947]
VWL2328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Jessie Wood 19471015 15th October, 1947.
VWL2329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Wedgwood 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL2330 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christian Darnton 19511212 Dec 12th 1951
VWL2331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2332 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2333 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19511218 18th December, 1951
VWL2334 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dorothy Wallis 19511225 Xmas day [1951]
VWL2335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19511227 27th December 1951
VWL2336 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520102 January 2 [1952]
VWL2337 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19471015 15th October 1947.
VWL2338 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19471015 15th October, 1947.
VWL2339 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 195103-- Sat [March 1951]
VWL2340 Letter from Ursula Wood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 195104-- [mid April 1951]
VWL2341 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dr Ferdinand Rauter 19510515 [ca 15 May 1951]
VWL2342 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe (BBC) 19470820 20th August, 1947.
VWL2343 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold and Jo Goldsborough 195105-- [May 1951]
VWL2344 Lord Lechery’s song 195105-- [?May] 1951
VWL2345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 195108-- [August 1951]
VWL2346 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195111-- [probably November 1951]
VWL2347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 195112-- [?1951]
VWL2348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520102 2nd. January, 1952.
VWL2349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19520109 9th January 1952
VWL2351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 195202-- [?February 1952]
VWL2353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19520109 Jan 9th [1952]
VWL2354 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 19520109 9th January, 1952.

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