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
VWL2383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520317 March 17 [1952]
VWL3335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19580223 February 23rd 1958.
VWL2189 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19510207 7th February, 1951.
VWL2190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19510214 14th February, 1951.
VWL3326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19580308 March 8th 1958.
VWL2971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19490317 [17 March 1949]
VWL2973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2669 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL2982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490406 6th April, 1949.
VWL3311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 19560325 March 25th 1956.
VWL2202 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19510308 March 8 [1951]
VWL2193 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL3345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19560628 June 28th 1956.
VWL1777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194701-- [January 1947]
VWL2034 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19460412 April 12 [1946?]
VWL1630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420126 Jan 26 [1942]
VWL1634 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194201-- [January 1942]
VWL1841 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194303-- [March 1943]
VWL2138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19461109 Nov 9th 1946
VWL2153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19470205 Feb 5 [1947]
VWL1627 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420111 Jan 11 1942
VWL2538 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19480115 15th January, 1948.
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL3925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eila Mackenzie 19540911 September 11th 1954.
VWL5203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to David Griffiths 19420214 Feb 14 [1942]
VWL4120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19510207 7th February, 1951.
VWL2156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470215 [mid February 1947]
VWL2282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL3713 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL3750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19491214 14th December, 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