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
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 193607-- [Late July 1936]
VWL764 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19350805 [5th August 1935]
VWL1698 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19421011 Oct 11 1942
VWL459 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19200308 [About 8th March 1920]
VWL761 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19350731 Wednesday [?31st July 1935]
VWL968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19360807 [About 7th August 1936]
VWL1090 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19361010 Saturday [10th October 1936]
VWL1853 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 1949080- [Early August 1949]
VWL2057 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19460824 Aug 24 [?1946]
VWL1390 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19400225 Feb 25 [1940]
VWL1730 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 1947---- [?1947]
VWL1072 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19361008 [About 10th October 1936]
VWL1418 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19400511 May 11th [1940?]
VWL1575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19410814 Aug l4th [1941]
VWL1925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19440813 Aug 13 [?1944]
VWL5111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frits Stegmann 19490413 13th April, 1949.
VWL5224 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Sternfeld 19551002 October 2nd 1955
VWL3957 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Rennie Emerson 19420414 [April 14, 1942]
VWL5172 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Rennie Emerson 1934---- 1934
VWL2603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page and Douglas Lilburn 195210-- [October 1952]
VWL3596 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page & Douglas Lilburn 19571018 Oct 18 [1957]
VWL2253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19510613 [13 June 1951]
VWL3053 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19491228 28th December, 1949.
VWL3435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19561016 October 16th 1956.
VWL2731 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19531011 October 11th 1953.
VWL1579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19410905 Sep 5 [1941]
VWL1604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19411217 Dec 17 1941
VWL2136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19501227 27th December, 1950.
VWL1747 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19430131 January 31st [1943]

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