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
VWL2277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511006 Oct 6 1951
VWL2048 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19460803 Aug 3 [1946]
VWL2320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511205 5th December 1951
VWL4566 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Menges 19420913 Sept 13 [1942]
VWL469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to H.H. Flagler 19210201 1/2/21
VWL5256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Abraham 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2659 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Bush 19530218 18th February, 1953.
VWL397 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19140404 [About 4th April 1914]
VWL462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19200311 11/3/20
VWL465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19200319 19/3/20
VWL412 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141010 [c.10th October 1914]
VWL396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19140401 [About 1st April 1914]
VWL575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19250113 Jan 13 [1925]
VWL349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141006 Oct 6th [1914]
VWL409 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141001 [About 1 October 1914]
VWL413 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141012 [c.12th October 1914]
VWL414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141101 Nov 1st [1914]
VWL415 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141024 [24th October 1914]
VWL350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141006 Oct 14th [1914]
VWL348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191409-- [September 1914]
VWL410 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19141008 [c.8th October 1914]
VWL1315 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340930 [30th September 1934]
VWL335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 191107-- [July 1911]
VWL2860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19540813 August 13th l954.
VWL499 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19220630 30/6/22
VWL3375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580215 February 15th 1958.
VWL1519 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19390302 Thursday [2 March 1939]
VWL1589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19411117 [?17 November 1941]
VWL439 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19180220 Feb 20th [1918]
VWL452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19190811 11/8/19

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