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
VWL2501 Letter from Robert Müller-Hartmann to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19471216 16th December 1947
VWL3603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Busch 19381105 Nov 5 [1938]
VWL1326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19341107 [About 7th Nov 1934]
VWL1316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19341002 Oct 2 [34]
VWL5121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19351203 Dec 3 [1935]
VWL645 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Longman 193712-- Monday [December 1937]
VWL1320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Owen Mase (BBC) 19341018 Oct 18 [1934]
VWL3846 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Olin Downes 19430925 25.9.43.
VWL1317 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nora Day and Vally Lasker 19341014 Oct 14th 34
VWL2180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Gray 19380103 Jan 3rd [1938]
VWL3207 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19551015 Oct 15 [1955]
VWL2091 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19460829 Aug 29 [1946]
VWL4779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 193504-- [April 1935]
VWL3911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550620 June 20th 1955
VWL4614 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to L.P. Pells 19350419 April 19 [1935]
VWL2316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe (BBC) 19470814 14th August, 1947.
VWL2292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511101 1st. November, 1951.
VWL2277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511006 Oct 6 1951
VWL2283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL3479 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ian Parrott 19570411 April 11th 1957.
VWL416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350413 13 April l935
VWL238 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19370122 Jan 22 [1937]
VWL316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350409 April 9th [1935]
VWL819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351202 [2 December 1935]
VWL830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351217 [17 December 1935]
VWL2428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520621 June 21st 1952.
VWL1132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 193312-- [December 1933]
VWL995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19320104 [4th January 1932]
VWL702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350417 April 17 [1935]
VWL563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 193505-- [May 1935]

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