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
VWL2890 Presentation of Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams to President A. Whitney Griswold by Dean Luther Noss. 19541201 [1 Dec 1954]
VWL3502 Piece on Ralph Vaughan Williams by John Ireland 195809-- [1958]
VWL3920 Newspaper extract from The Times announcing the marriage of Vaughan Williams and Ursula Wood 19530209 Monday February 9, [1953]
VWL191 Letter from William Barclay Squire to F.W. Evans 19050302 2 March 1905
VWL3197 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Vera Mackenzie and Molly Hodge 19580904 Sept. 4, 1958
VWL3194 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19580921 September 21st 1958
VWL3190 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Nigel Fortune 19590104 January 4th, 1959
VWL3191 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Mrs Ross Lee Finney 19581122 22nd November 1958
VWL4248 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Mr Martin Shaw 19570905 Tuesday [3 September, 1957]
VWL3538 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570811 August 11th 1957.
VWL3558 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19571126 November 26th [1957].
VWL3276 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580708 [8 July 1958]
VWL3549 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570919 Thursday, [19th September 1957]
VWL3562 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19571122 [22 November 1957]
VWL3531 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570723 [23rd July 1957]
VWL4198 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580925 25 September, 1958
VWL3196 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Margaret Keynes 19580909 September 9th, 1958
VWL3195 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Lady Jessie Wood 19580915 September 15th 1958
VWL2738 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Eslyn Kennedy 19531101 [About 1 November 1953]
VWL3964 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19520224 February 24th [1952]
VWL3704 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19580906 September 6th 1958.
VWL732 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19350608 [8th June 1935]
VWL1247 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19371016 Oct 16 [1937]
VWL4763 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Choir of Kensington High School 19421022 Oct 22 [1942]
VWL1205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19370816 August 16 1937
VWL4606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 193511-- Wednesday [November, 1935]
VWL4513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 19421028 28 October, 1942
VWL2810 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19481014 Oct 14 [1948]
VWL4202 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530211 11th February, 1953
VWL4201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19530201 [1 February, 1953]

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