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
VWL1169 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19370711 July 11 1937
VWL1359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL803 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19351007 October 7 [1935]
VWL828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 192910-- [?late 1929]
VWL1050 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19330318 March 18 [1933]
VWL1133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193305-- [?May 1933]
VWL4880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19400813 Aug 13 [ca 1940]
VWL2075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500814 August 14 [1950]
VWL2107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501014 Oct. 14 [1950]
VWL2428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520621 June 21st 1952.
VWL2958 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19490303 March 3 [1949]
VWL2175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510122 Jan 22 [1951]
VWL3755 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19490902 2nd. September, 1949.
VWL4451 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19491026 26th October, 1949.
VWL4158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2417 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19471120 20th November, 1947.
VWL2447 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520706 July 6 [1952]
VWL2663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19530228 [About 28th February 1953]
VWL4149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 1951---- [1951]
VWL4275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510115 Jan 15 [1951]
VWL4278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500909 Sept 9th 1950
VWL2082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500908 [About 8th September 1950]
VWL2111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19530330 March 30 [1953]
VWL2416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520525 May 25th 1952
VWL2506 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19471218 18th December, 1947.
VWL4151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510728 July 28 [1951]
VWL2178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510124 24th January, 1951.
VWL2776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19480715 15th July, 1948

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