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
VWL1139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19370131 January 31 [1937]
VWL1127 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19331215 [15th December 1933]
VWL186 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19350117 Jan 17th [1935]
VWL1510 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390115 [15th January 1939]
VWL683 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 193909-- Sept [1939]
VWL885 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19301221 [21st December 1930]
VWL1464 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19401031 [31 October 1940]
VWL560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Humphrey Proctor-Gregg 19240719 [About 19 July 1924]
VWL566 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Humphrey Proctor-Gregg 192406-- [June 1924]
VWL1170 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19370803 August 3 [1937]
VWL2320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511205 5th December 1951
VWL2336 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520102 January 2 [1952]
VWL1121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19331112 Nov 12 [1933]
VWL3784 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Horace Edward Randerson 192504-- [April 1925]
VWL331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Thompson 191009-- [About September 1910]
VWL572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19241026 [26 October 1924]
VWL1817 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19431030 Oct 30 [1943]
VWL1111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19361214 14 Dec 1936
VWL3438 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19361018 [18 October 1936]
VWL806 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19351018 [18 October 1935]
VWL2332 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL3080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491115 [On or about 15 November 1949]
VWL2052 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 1950---- Tuesday [?about 1950]
VWL1065 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330710 [10 July 1933]
VWL1098 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330925 [25 September 1933]
VWL1099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331001 [About 1 October 1933]
VWL1123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331113 [13 November 1933]
VWL709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291102 [2 November 1929]
VWL365 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19100715 [About 15th July 1910]
VWL432 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19170804 Aug 4 [1917]

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