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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL4695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maurice R.A. Reeve 19570115 January 15th 1957
VWL4860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19381220 Dec 20 [1938]
VWL4209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19531231 December 31st 1953.
VWL4253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580819 August 19th 1958.
VWL4254 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580817 [August, 1958]
VWL4199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19540320 March 20th 1954.
VWL1982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19500308 8th March, 1950
VWL1537 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Kennet 19410520 May 20th, 1941.
VWL3199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Laurence Taylor 19551002 October 2nd 1955
VWL5279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19520702 2nd. July, 1952.
VWL5032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19461020 Oct 20 [1946]
VWL5031 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500914 Sept 14 [1950?]
VWL5015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19510117 Jan 17 [1951]
VWL2377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520312 12th March, 1952.
VWL2292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511101 1st. November, 1951.
VWL2283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL4236 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19541030 October 30 [1954]
VWL5064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19431226 Dec 26 [1943]
VWL4765 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (Oxford University Press) 19400916 September 16 [ca 1940]
VWL1276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19380126 [Jan. 26, 1938]
VWL1965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19500103 Jan 3 [?1950]
VWL2259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19510627 27th June, 1951.
VWL2865 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19540902 September 2nd 1954.
VWL548 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193603-- Tuesday [March 1936]
VWL2570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Rutland (BBC) 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL3860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1940---- [early 1940s]
VWL3894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3831 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3858 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193----- [1930s?]
VWL750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350704 [4th July 1935]

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