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
VWL1491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194007-- [July 1940]
VWL1496 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194008-- [1940]
VWL1497 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194009-- [1940]
VWL1501 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194010-- Sunday [Autumn 1940]
VWL1544 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19410630 30.6.41
VWL1552 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194111-- [Early November 1941]
VWL1565 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390513 [13th May, 1939]
VWL1573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390705 [5th July 1939]
VWL1644 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19391129 [29th November 1939]
VWL1665 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1945---- [Sometime between 1938 and 1946]
VWL1724 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1945---- [Sometime between 1938 and 1946]
VWL1740 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194207-- [July 1942]
VWL1844 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1943---- [1943]
VWL2204 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19510312 [12th March 1951]
VWL2427 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19520606 6.6.52
VWL673 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193906-- [June, 1939]
VWL697 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194108-- [August 1941?]
VWL1222 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390906 [6th September 1939]
VWL1375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380919 [19th September 1938]
VWL1413 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400404 [April 4th 1940]
VWL1414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400410 [10 April 1940]
VWL1437 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400907 [Sept 7th 1940]
VWL1440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401001 [About 1st October 1940]
VWL1485 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400203 [3 February 1940]
VWL1549 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194109-- [After 4th September 1941]
VWL1582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411016 Thursday [16th October 1941]
VWL1654 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1945---- [Sometime between 1943 and 1945]
VWL1743 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194210-- [About October 1942]
VWL3167 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19490805 Friday [5th August 1949]
VWL4767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19471119 19 Nov 1947

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