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
VWL2565 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19521231 31st. December 26, 1952.
VWL2566 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19530119 Jan 19th 1953
VWL2567 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19530103 January 3rd 1953.
VWL2568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530105 Jan 5 [1953]
VWL2569 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530108 8th January 1953
VWL2570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Rutland (BBC) 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL2571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19480225 Feb 25th [1948]
VWL2572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 19480227 February 27th. 1948.
VWL2573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19470227 Feb 27 [1947?]
VWL2574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480302 March 2 [1948]
VWL2575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 19480304 4th March, 1948
VWL2576 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480304 4th. March, 1948.
VWL2577 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19260906 6 Sep 1926
VWL2578 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480312 12th March, 1948.
VWL2579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480312 12th March, 1948
VWL2580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19480318 March 18 [1948]
VWL2581 Letter from Robert Müller-Hartmann to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480321 21st March 1948
VWL2582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480325 25th March, 1948
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL2584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480325 25th March, 1948.
VWL2585 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480402 2nd. April, 1948.
VWL2586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19480402 2nd April, 1948.
VWL2587 Letter from Gwen Beckett (BBC) to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480413 13th April 1948.
VWL2588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett 19480413 April 13 [1948]
VWL2589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Music Librarian (BBC) 19480414 14th April, 1948.
VWL2590 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19480414 14th April, 1948.
VWL2591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480415 April 15 [1948]
VWL2592 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480416 16th April, 1948
VWL2593 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19541216 December 16th 1954
VWL2594 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Longman 19480426 April 26 [1948]

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