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
VWL5277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Carter 19480805 5th August, 1948.
VWL5276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Carter 19480801 Aug 1st 1948
VWL1288 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Carter 19480410 10th April 1948
VWL5130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Carter 19480729 29th July, 1948.
VWL5145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary 19400321 March 21 [ca 1940]
VWL4300 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marc Vignal 19570303 March 3rd, 1957.
VWL1503 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marc Vignal 19571015 October 15th, 1957.
VWL797 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Madeleine Dring 19450219 Feb 19
VWL4546 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Gorell 19291123 November 23, 1929
VWL4999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lionel Benson 1905---- [ca 1905]
VWL5232 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Woodgate 19540324 March 24th 1954
VWL5230 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Woodgate 19510124 Jan 24 1951
VWL5061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Arthur Boosey 19330806 August 6 [1933]
VWL3426 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19560929 [29th September 1956]
VWL5206 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Weston Poole 19430608 June 8 1943
VWL5207 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Weston Poole 19430622 June 22 [1943]
VWL5201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Mead 19511024 24th October, 1951.
VWL5193 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Armitage Davison 19540530 May 30th 1954.
VWL3006 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Hurley 19571226 December 26, 1957
VWL2660 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Elwes 1927---- [1927]
VWL5063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19470706 July 6 [1947]
VWL5081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19470603 June 3 [1947]
VWL5095 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 194----- [1940s?]
VWL5158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19430216 [16 February 1943]
VWL5065 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 1947---- [1947?]
VWL5066 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19441014 Oct 14 [1944]
VWL5084 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19531220 Dec 20 [1953 or later]
VWL5085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19440709 Sunday [July 1944]
VWL5086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19450104 Jan 4 [1945?]
VWL5087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19410310 March 10 [1941]

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