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
VWL4847 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1935---- [between 1933 and 1938]
VWL891 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193006-- [About June 1930]
VWL4844 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19371205 Dec 5 [1937]
VWL4846 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 194309-- [September 1943]
VWL4850 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1933---- [1933]
VWL4852 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19351230 [late December, mid 1930s]
VWL4853 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19320617 June 17 [1932?]
VWL4856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193-- [1933 or later]
VWL4848 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19330220 [late February 1933]
VWL4855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL2682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19530513 13th May, 1953
VWL2219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19510429 [29th April 1951]
VWL2835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19481020 20th October, 1948.
VWL2985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19490428 28th April, 1949
VWL2241 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19510520 [20th May 1951]
VWL1768 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 1950---- Friday [?1950]
VWL484 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 192112-- [December 1921]
VWL4719 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Pitt 1920---- [1920s?]
VWL4718 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Pitt 1915---- [c.1915-1916]
VWL4599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1925---- [1925]
VWL4108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 19141211 Dec. 11 14
VWL1136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1930---- [c.1930]
VWL4502 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 191905-- [May, 1919]
VWL4435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Paul Hirsch 19460411 April11 1946
VWL713 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Pablo Casals 19291229 December 29 [1929]
VWL3290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Tattersall 19580604 June 4th 1958.
VWL1804 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19430917 17.9.43.
VWL1705 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19421014 Oct 14 [1942]
VWL3133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19491013 13th October, 1949.
VWL3211 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19551023 October 23rd 1955.

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