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
VWL4125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19490420 20th April, 1949.
VWL4126 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19420510 May 10 [1942]
VWL4127 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19420705 July 5 [1942]
VWL4128 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19430913 September 13 [1943]
VWL4129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19370917 Sep 17 [1937]
VWL4130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19430908 August 9 [1943?]
VWL4131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19261108 Nov 8 [1926?]
VWL4132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 192701-- Sunday, [January, ?1927]
VWL4133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19270113 Jan 13 [?1927]
VWL4134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 192711-- [?November, 1927]
VWL4135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 1933---- [1933?]
VWL4136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 1943---- [?1943]
VWL4137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19461107 Nov 7 [1946]
VWL4138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 193407-- Sunday [?July, 1934]
VWL4139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19330430 April 30 [1933]
VWL4140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 1933---- [?1933]
VWL4141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19330924 Sep 24 [?1933]
VWL4142 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19360420 Monday, [20 April, 1936]
VWL4143 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19350425 April 25 [?1935]
VWL4148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500503 3rd May, 1950.
VWL4172 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 192603-- [March? 1926]
VWL4173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 192604-- [April? 1926]
VWL4174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19260418 April 18 [1926]
VWL4175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 192604-- [April? 1926]
VWL4176 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19290310 March 10 [1929]
VWL4177 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19290714 July 14 [1929]
VWL4178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19350803 August 3, [1935?]
VWL4179 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19400308 March 8, [ca 1940]
VWL4180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19400225 Feb 25 [ca 1940]
VWL4181 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19451015 Oct 15 [ca 1945]

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