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
VWL2505 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to BBC Copyright Dept 19471218 18th December 1947
VWL2506 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19471218 18th December, 1947.
VWL2507 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jo and Arnold Goldsbrough 19521018 Oct 18 [?1952]
VWL2508 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19521019 October 19th 1952.
VWL2509 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19471225 Xmas Day [1947?]
VWL2510 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 19471226 Dec 26 [1947]
VWL2511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19471227 December 27 [1947]
VWL2512 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19471227 27th December, 1947
VWL2513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett (BBC) 19471227 27th December, 1947.
VWL2514 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19480104 January 4 [1948]
VWL2515 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Dowling 195203-- [March 1952?]
VWL2516 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195208-- [August 1952]
VWL2517 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195209-- [September 1952]
VWL2518 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195209-- [? September 1952]
VWL2519 Letter from Gerald Finzi to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521020 October 20th. [1952]
VWL2520 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 19521022 Oct 22 [1952]
VWL2521 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gordon Paget 19521024 Oct 24 1952
VWL2522 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19521026 October 26th [1952]
VWL2523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Merrick 19521027 October 27th 1952.
VWL2524 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521027 October 27th 1952.
VWL2525 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521210 10 Dec. 1952
VWL2526 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19521029 29th October, 1952
VWL2527 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521029 29th October, 1952.
VWL2528 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521105 5th November, 1952.
VWL2529 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521031 [31st October 1952]
VWL2530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521030 Oct 30 1952
VWL2531 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bee Boeijinga 19480106 Jan 6th [1948]
VWL2532 Letter from from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480109 9th January, 1948.
VWL2533 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19521031 Oct 31 [1952]
VWL2534 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19521102 November 2nd 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