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.

Searching:
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
VWL1467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19401102 Nov 2 [1940]
VWL1470 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19401104 Nov 4 [1940]
VWL1472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19401120 Nov 20 [1940]
VWL1532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herwald Ramsbotham 19410501 May 1st 1941
VWL1795 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19430731 July 31 [1943]
VWL1799 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19430815 Aug 15 [1943]
VWL1858 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19440108 Jan 8 [1944]
VWL1860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19440118 Jan 18 [1944]
VWL1864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19440213 Feb 13 [1944]
VWL1970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19500104 4 January, 1950.
VWL2398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19471016 16th October, 1947.
VWL2432 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19471204 4th December, 1947.
VWL2850 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481104 4th November, 1948.
VWL2851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481118 18th November, 1948.
VWL2852 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481124 24th November, 1948.
VWL2947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19490209 9th February, 1949.
VWL2956 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19490228 Feb 28 [1949]
VWL2976 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19490325 25th March, 1949.
VWL3113 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19491109 9th November, 1949.
VWL3152 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490817 17th August, 1949.
VWL3162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490810 10th August, 1949.
VWL3168 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490803 3rd. August, 1949.

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