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
VWL3272 Letter from Urusla Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580727 July 27th 1958
VWL3273 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580724 [24 July 1958]
VWL3377 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580209 February 9th [1958]
VWL1573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390705 [5th July 1939]
VWL674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193906-- [June, 1939]
VWL673 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193906-- [June, 1939]
VWL1626 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19420104 Jan. 4th [1942]
VWL3349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19560706 July 6th 1956
VWL4560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney Waddington 1929---- [early 1929?]
VWL2903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 1946---- [1946 or later]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL1192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19340225 Feb 25 [1934]
VWL668 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Penelope Spencer 19290331 [About 31st March 1929]
VWL656 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Penelope Spencer 19290121 [Third week of January 1929]
VWL2978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs H.F. Stewart 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL3780 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1929032- [Late March 1929]
VWL1020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19321113 [About 13th November 1932]
VWL4809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 192808-- [August 1928?]
VWL2404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520416 16th April, 1952.
VWL2431 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19471204 4th December, 1947.
VWL2492 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19511014 Oct 14 [1951]
VWL1996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500524 24th May 1950.
VWL2979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490330 30th March, 1949
VWL2184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19470531 31st May, 1947.
VWL2487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL3176 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490622 22nd. June, 1949.
VWL2301 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19470625 25th June, 1947.
VWL2804 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19480930 30th September, 1948.
VWL2946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490209 9th February, 1949
VWL2954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490217 17th February, 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