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.

Searching:
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
VWL1584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19411106 Nov 6 [1941]
VWL184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350106 [6 January 1935]
VWL828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 192910-- [?late 1929]
VWL1066 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19330720 [20th July l933]
VWL2383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520317 March 17 [1952]
VWL2177 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510124 24th January, 1951
VWL524 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 1938---- [about 1938]
VWL2336 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520102 January 2 [1952]
VWL1691 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19420923 Sept 23 [1942]
VWL2069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19500726 26th July, 1950
VWL2188 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510207 7th February 1951
VWL2373 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520305 5th March, 1952
VWL1122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19340103 [3 January 1934]
VWL1989 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19500330 30th March, 1950.
VWL1601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19411213 Sat: [13th December 1941]
VWL1550 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Blech 194109-- Thurs [mid-1941]
VWL1352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193309-- [September 1933]
VWL1764 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett (BBC) 19430521 [May 21st 1943]
VWL3828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1933--- [about 1933]
VWL1599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19411210 Dec 10 [1941]
VWL1670 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19420603 June 3rd, 1942
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL1200 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370728 [28th July 1937]
VWL4474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19370212 February 12 [1937]
VWL1140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19370131 January 31 [1937].
VWL969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311106 Nov 6 1931
VWL4703 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311213 Dec 13 [1931]
VWL2851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric Walter White 19481118 18th November, 1948.
VWL1789 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19430623 June 23 1943
VWL3605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Needham 19310112 January 12 [1931]

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