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
VWL3920 Newspaper extract from The Times announcing the marriage of Vaughan Williams and Ursula Wood 19530209 Monday February 9, [1953]
VWL3420 Letter from Rutland Boughton to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19580109 9.1.58
VWL4688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19530208 February 8th 1953.
VWL3563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Gerald Kelly 19571120 November 20th 1957
VWL3491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 195608-- [After July 1956]
VWL3532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19570724 [24 July 1957]
VWL3383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580209 February 9th 1958
VWL3419 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19580115 January 15th 1958.
VWL2830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19540617 June 17 [1954]
VWL4481 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Evans 19540328 March 28th 1954.
VWL3365 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560818 August 18th 1956.
VWL3560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19571126 November 26th 1957.
VWL2703 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19530711 July 11th 1953.
VWL2966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550113 Jan 13 1955
VWL3553 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19571227 December 27th 1957.
VWL4225 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19540911 September 11th 1954.
VWL3396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19580128 January 28th 1958.
VWL3566 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19571115 November 15th 1957
VWL4297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 19551007 October 7th 1955.
VWL3067 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Keith Falkner 19550307 March 7th 1955.
VWL3378 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19580209 February 9th 1958.
VWL4203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 195302-- [February, 1953]
VWL3269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jeremy Dale Roberts 19580810 August 10th 1958.
VWL3572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19571005 October 5th 1957.
VWL2677 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19530415 15th April, 1953
VWL2929 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert John Sumsion 1953---- [1953 or later]
VWL2661 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19530218 18th February, 1953
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL3949 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19530201 1 Feb 1953
VWL2731 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19531011 October 11th 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