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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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL4526 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19470522 Sunday [22 May, 1947]
VWL4527 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19470921 Sept 21 1947
VWL4528 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19471031 Oct 31 [1947?]
VWL4529 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19480120 Jan 20 [1948?]
VWL4530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19471227 27th December, 1947.
VWL4531 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19481226 Dec 26 [1948?]
VWL4532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL4533 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19491223 December 23 [1949]
VWL4534 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19480501 May 1 [1948?]
VWL4535 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 194911-- [November, 1949?]
VWL4536 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19501011 October 11, [1950]
VWL4537 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL4538 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 19501231 New years Eve
VWL4541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19510429 29 April, 1951
VWL4542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 19510511 11 May, 1951
VWL4543 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 1952---- [1952]
VWL4544 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530128 28th January, 1953.
VWL4545 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530204 4th February, 1953
VWL4546 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Gorell 19291123 November 23, 1929
VWL4547 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to a representative of the British Legion 19231019 October 19 [1923]
VWL4548 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Simpson 19510527 May 27 [1951]
VWL4549 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19390104 Jan 4, 1939
VWL4550 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dante Pilara 19490608 8th June, 1949.
VWL4551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to “Moppett” 19551226 December 26th, 1955.
VWL4552 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cyril Clarke 19540114 January 14 1954.
VWL4553 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19130825 August 25 [1913?]
VWL4554 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams 19130113 Jan 13th 1913,
VWL4555 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 1917---- [about 1917]
VWL4563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Ricketts 19480423 23rd. April, 1948.
VWL4564 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Walter Susskind 194-0610 June 10 [late 1940s?]

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