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
VWL3977 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19290918 18 Sep 1929
VWL3978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19290905 5 September 1929
VWL3979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19291221 21 Dec 1929
VWL3980 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19321006 October 6 [1932]
VWL3981 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19301226 26 Dec 1932
VWL3982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19301230 12 Dec 1930
VWL3983 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19320927 27 Sep 1932
VWL3984 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19360821 Aug 21 [1936]
VWL3987 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19531226 December 26th 1953
VWL3988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19330102 Jan 2d 1933
VWL3989 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19330624 [24 June 1933]
VWL3990 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19390227 Feb 27 / 39
VWL3991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19521016 Oct 16 [1952]
VWL3992 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19340125 Jan 25 [1934]
VWL3993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19390514 May 14 1939
VWL3994 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19360101 Jan 1st 1936
VWL3995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19501115 15th November, 1950.
VWL3996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19510808 8 Aug 1951

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