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
VWL3689 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19580921 September 21st 1958
VWL4331 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19541126 November 26th [1954]
VWL2155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19470213 Feb 13 [1947]
VWL3022 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Patrick Hadley 19490608 8th June, 1949
VWL3666 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 1925---- [1925]
VWL3670 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 194009-- Tuesday [September 1940]
VWL3687 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19500920 20th September, 1950.
VWL3673 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 194808-- [August 1948]
VWL3669 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 194006-- [?mid 1940]
VWL3675 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19291021 [21 October 1929]
VWL3612 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19310607 June 7, [ca 1931]
VWL4791 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19250701 [early July 1925]
VWL4787 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19250615 [mid-June 1925]
VWL4798 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1927---- [1927?]
VWL4077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19270708 July 8 [1927]
VWL4725 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Keith Douglas 1937---- [March 1937?]
VWL5016 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19510912 12th September, 1951.
VWL3120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491102 2nd November, 1949
VWL3131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491019 19th October 1949
VWL2468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520917 17th September, 1952
VWL4556 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19470513 13 May, 1947
VWL3130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491025 Oct 25 [1949]
VWL3116 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491109 9th November, 1949
VWL2588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett 19480413 April 13 [1948]
VWL2776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19480715 15th July, 1948
VWL2181 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19470513 [13th May 1947]
VWL1778 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194703-- [Early March 1947]
VWL5187 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Corbett 19470531 31 May 1947
VWL1779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 194703-- [Early March 1947]
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