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
VWL3563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Gerald Kelly 19571120 November 20th 1957
VWL4567 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Gerald Kelly 19521127 27th November, 1952.
VWL4425 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Edwin Herbert 19561223 December 23rd 1956.
VWL722 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Edward German 19350607 June 7 [1935]
VWL424 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19160816 Aug 16th [1916]
VWL435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19171202 Dec 2nd 1917
VWL425 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19160904 Monday [4th?] Sept [1916]
VWL3812 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19370706 July 4th [1937]
VWL4001 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 193509-- [autumn 1935]
VWL3811 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19370722 July 22 [1937]
VWL4003 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19371016 Oct 16 [1937]
VWL3810 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19370728 July 28 [1937]
VWL5136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19211122 22/11/21
VWL3809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19350823 August 23 [1935]
VWL4002 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19361121 Nov 21 [1936]
VWL4967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19230829 29/8/23
VWL2928 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alan Barlow 1954---- [1954?]
VWL1618 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19391024 Oct 24 [1939]
VWL2311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL1514 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19390130 Jan 30 [1939]
VWL1560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19390415 [Mid April 1939]
VWL2586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19480402 2nd April, 1948.
VWL716 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19340520 [20 May 1935]
VWL1620 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult 19391031 [October 31 1939]
VWL5166 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 193-0208 Feb 8 [1930s?]
VWL5185 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 194-0823 August 23 [1940s]
VWL2948 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 19490914 14th September, 1949.
VWL3302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580502 2.5.58
VWL3401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580125 [January 25th 1958]
VWL3491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 195608-- [After July 1956]

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