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
VWL1554 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390313 March 13 [?1939]
VWL1556 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390322 [22 March, 1939]
VWL1605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391012 [12th October 1939]
VWL1633 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19420308 [About 8th March 1942]
VWL1638 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391107 [7th November 1939]
VWL1928 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19440819 Aug 19th [1944]
VWL1308 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380614 Midnight - Tuesday [14 June 1938]
VWL1357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400106 Jan 6 [1940]
VWL701 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193909-- [September 1939]
VWL3534 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19570724 Wednesday [about 24th July 1957]
VWL3432 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Tom Whitestone 19561009 Oct 9th 1956
VWL555 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to To Iris Lemare 193703-- [?March 1937]
VWL1650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Thomas Pitfield 1945---- [Before May 1945]
VWL558 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Thomas Humphrey Marshall 19240916 9/16/24
VWL4313 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Thomas Beecham 19370210 Feb 10 [1937]
VWL4706 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Victoria University of Wellington 19571118 November 18th 1957.
VWL3384 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Treasurer, Leith Hill Musical Festival 19560413 April 13th 1956
VWL3728 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Treasurer of the Gloucester Musical Festival 19371002 October 2, [1937]
VWL2485 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Sunday Times 19521220 20th December 1952
VWL3210 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Royal Musical Association 19551022 [22 October 1955]
VWL1880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Leonard Starey 19450315 [c.15th March 1945]
VWL3271 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Frank Rust 19580803 [Aug. 3rd 1959]
VWL3507 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Frank Rust 195807-- [July 1958]
VWL1392 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Pilgrim Trust 19400403 April 3 [1940]
VWL2203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the Leith Hill Musical Festival of 1951 19510308 March 8 [1951]
VWL2055 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the Leith Hill Musical Festival of 1950 195004-- [April/May 1950]
VWL2915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Müller-Hartmann and Hornstein families 19481016 Oct 16 [about 1948?]
VWL2572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 19480227 February 27th. 1948.
VWL4591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19521019 Oct 18 [1952]
VWL3775 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Headmaster [of Charterhouse] 1950---- March 30 [ca. 1950]

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