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
VWL3113 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19491109 9th November, 1949.
VWL3162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490810 10th August, 1949.
VWL4541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19510429 29 April, 1951
VWL2351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Treves 19520220 20th February 1952
VWL5093 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 194----- Wednesday [early 1940s]
VWL2258 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510624 [24th June 1951]
VWL2260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510627 27th June, 1951
VWL2361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520202 2nd February, 1952
VWL2236 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510517 17th May, 1951
VWL2218 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Murrill 19510429 [29 April 1951]
VWL2259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19510627 27th June, 1951.
VWL4117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hal Burton 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL4158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL4277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500817 Aug 17 [1950?]
VWL4150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510413 April 13 [1951?]
VWL4163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520817 August 17th 1952.
VWL4278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500909 Sept 9th 1950
VWL4151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510728 July 28 [1951]
VWL2178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510124 24th January, 1951.
VWL3864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1952---- Whit Sunday [1952?]
VWL2222 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19510502 [2nd May 1951]
VWL2007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19451021 Oct 21 [1945]
VWL2931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19481211 Dec 11 [1948]
VWL2015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19451108 Nov 8 [1945]
VWL2019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19451117 November 17 [?1945]
VWL4168 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19560520 May 20th 1956.
VWL4324 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Dwelly 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL2852 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481124 24th November, 1948.
VWL2851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481118 18th November, 1948.

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