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
VWL154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190710-- ?October 1907]
VWL187 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19040924 [24th September 1904]
VWL1053 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19330401 [About 1st April 1933]
VWL2227 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19510510 May 10 [1951]
VWL4448 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1895---- [1895]
VWL5169 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Nicholson 19491221 21st. December, 1949.
VWL5234 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19320213 Feb 13 [1932?]
VWL5261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19450525 May 25 [1945]
VWL5260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19450527 May 27 [1945]
VWL1424 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400606 About June 6th [1940]
VWL1400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400317 March 17 [1940]
VWL4058 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.S. Scragg 194710-- Tuesday [October 1947]
VWL2017 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.L. Eastwood 19500705 5th July, 1950.
VWL205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.A. Streatfeild 19060701 July 1st [1906]
VWL4638 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor Hermann Fiedler 19381119 Nov 19 [1938]
VWL1331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380626 Sunday [26 June l938]
VWL696 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 193905-- [?May 1939]
VWL1245 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19371003 Oct 3rd [1937]
VWL1303 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380530 Monday [30 May 1938]
VWL3802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Pietro Lauricella 19291031 Oct 31 [about 1929]
VWL4311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Phyllis Tate 19350330 30 March 1935
VWL4310 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Phyllis Tate 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL5141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Phyllis 19551130 [ca 1955]
VWL4696 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Mackay 19571017 [17 Oct 1957]
VWL5274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Hope Edward Bagenal 19230410 10/4/23
VWL3930 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Heseltine 1924---- [1924?]
VWL5163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Catelinet 19550118 [18 January 1955]
VWL2265 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Tranchell 19510808 8th August, 1951.
VWL1104 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19331019 Oct 19th [1933?]
VWL4851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193-0513 May 13 [1930s]

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