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
VWL4035 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams for the Coldharbour parish magazine 19311022 [22 October 1931]
VWL4610 Letter from Patrick Hadley and Henry Balfour Gardiner to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19350412 12 April 1935
VWL2612 Letter from Michael Kennedy to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530118 Sunday, Jan 18th, 1953.
VWL488 Letter from Lucy Broadwood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220129 Jan. 29. 1922
VWL537 Letter from Karl Straube to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19231205 Dez 5th 1923
VWL2255 Letter from Hubert Foss to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510620 20th June, 1951
VWL2619 Letter from Gerald Finzi to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530122 Jan 22nd [1953]
VWL2618 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530122 Thurs 22/1/53
VWL2217 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510427 27 April 1951
VWL2226 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510506 6 May 1951
VWL2223 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510502 2 May 1951
VWL3770 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19480523 May 23 1948
VWL178 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19010325 March 25th [1901]
VWL1188 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370708 July 8 [1937?]
VWL1509 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 Monday [9th January 1939]
VWL1043 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19330201 Wed [1st Feb 1933]
VWL2950 Foreword from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Society for the Promotion of New Music 195403-- [About March 1954]

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