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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
VWL4703 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311213 Dec 13 [1931]
VWL4705 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193203-- [shortly after 16 March, 1932]
VWL4708 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL634 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19280912 [12th September 1928]
VWL657 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19290127 27th January 1929
VWL658 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19290201 [About 1st February 1929]
VWL4702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311213 December 13 [1931]
VWL4710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL711 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19291217 Dec 17 [1929]
VWL618 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19270801 [Early August 1927]
VWL619 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19270818 [18th August 1927]
VWL815 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 192708-- [August 1927]
VWL5190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19030214 Feb14th [1903]
VWL5189 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19030213 Feb 13th [1903]
VWL5191 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19041030 Oct 30th [1904]
VWL4438 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eleanor Farjeon 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL4874 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19490105 5th January, 1949.
VWL4875 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19481205 December 5 [1948]
VWL4549 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19390104 Jan 4, 1939
VWL3364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560818 August 18th 1956.
VWL3292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560217 February 17th 1956.
VWL3351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560708 July 8th 1956.
VWL1175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19370427 April 27 [1937]
VWL2925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19541225 December 25th 1954.
VWL2061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 195011-- [November 1950]
VWL2013 Letter from Gerald Finzi to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19451105 [5 November 1945]
VWL4830 Letter (extract) from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]

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