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
VWL979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360818 [18th August 1936]
VWL1060 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19330707 July 7 [1933]
VWL1108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19361123 [23rd November 1936]
VWL2015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19451108 Nov 8 [1945]
VWL2103 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19501011 11th October, 1950.
VWL1583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19411102 Nov 2d [?1941]
VWL1802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19430917 17.9.43
VWL1827 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194711-- November, 1947
VWL2331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2376 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19520312 12th March, 1952.
VWL1105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cuthbert Bates 19331022 Oct 22d [after 1933]
VWL2999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19490505 5th May, 1949.
VWL3270 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580810 August 10th 1958.
VWL1076 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19330804 August 4 [1933]
VWL239 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19350214 Feb 14 [1934 or 1935]
VWL1522 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy and Gerald Finzi 19390305 March 5 [1939?]
VWL2079 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19500901 September 1 [1950?]
VWL2000 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19500603 June 3 [1950]
VWL2064 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 195102-- Monday [February 1951]
VWL1038 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 193303-- [March 1933]
VWL2977 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490330 March 30 [1949]
VWL1077 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19330811 Friday night [?11th August 1933 ]
VWL1143 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370225 Feb 25 [1937]
VWL4675 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19420105 Monday night, [5 January, 1942]

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