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
VWL1199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19340317 Sat: [March 17th 1934]
VWL851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19300404 [4th April 1930]
VWL3020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490605 June 5/49
VWL995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19320104 [4th January 1932]
VWL1735 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19421204 [4th December 1942 ]
VWL2931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19481211 Dec 11 [1948]
VWL1583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19411102 Nov 2d [?1941]
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL1797 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19430808 Aug 8 [1943]
VWL459 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19200308 [About 8th March 1920]
VWL4626 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hubback 19350203 Feb 3 [1935]
VWL4627 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hubback 193511-- [November 1935]
VWL4632 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hubback 19361217 December 17 [1936]
VWL4665 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Else Headlam-Morley 19350504 May 4 [1935]
VWL134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 190306-- [About June 1903]
VWL882 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19301214 Sunday [14 December 1930]
VWL348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191409-- [September 1914]
VWL3434 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19561013 October 13th 1956.
VWL3619 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19480923 23rd September, 1948.
VWL4630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Richards 19521119 19th November, 1952.
VWL4628 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Richards 19530128 28th January, 1953.
VWL417 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to David Stanley Smith 19350414 [14th April 1935]
VWL463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Charles Edward Sayle 19200314 14/3/20
VWL464 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Charles Edward Sayle 19200319 19/3/20
VWL532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 193504-- Sunday [?April 1935]
VWL3003 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19490525 25th May, 1949.
VWL2692 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530613 June 13th 1953.
VWL1463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401026 Oct 26 [1940]
VWL1270 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19340727 [27 July 1934]
VWL439 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19180220 Feb 20th [1918]

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