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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL553 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 193610-- [About October 1936?]
VWL554 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 193701-- [About January 1937]
VWL827 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19351213 Dec 13 [1935]
VWL1144 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370225 February 25 [1937]
VWL1158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370301 Monday [1st March 1937?]
VWL1160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370314 Sunday [14th March 1937]
VWL1173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370413 April 13 [1937]
VWL1175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370427 April 27 [1937]
VWL1283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19380313 March 13 [1938]
VWL1445 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19381122 November 22 [1938]
VWL1847 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 194807-- [About July 1948?]
VWL1968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500104 4th January, 1950.
VWL1969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500125 Jan 25.[1950]
VWL1971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500108 January 8 [1950]
VWL1972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500111 11th January, 1950.
VWL1983 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500308 8th March, 1950.
VWL2003 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500620 [About 20th June 1950]
VWL2005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500622 22nd. June, 1950.
VWL2028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460314 [About 14th March 1946]
VWL2030 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460321 March 21 [1946?]
VWL2032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460409 April 9 [1946]
VWL2041 Letter from Jean Stewart to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460601 i vi 46
VWL2045 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460704 July 4 [1946?]
VWL2046 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460715 July 15 [?1946]
VWL2056 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460803 Aug 3. [1946]
VWL2061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 195011-- [November 1950]
VWL2068 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500719 19th July 1950.
VWL2070 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500726 26th July, 1950.
VWL2077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500820 Aug 20th 1950
VWL2081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500901 1st. September, 1950.

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