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
VWL473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19210407 [?early April 1921 ]
VWL474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19210430 30/4/21
VWL1053 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19330401 [About 1st April 1933]
VWL2123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19501213 13th December, 1950.
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]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL1192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19340225 Feb 25 [1934]
VWL1416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400418 April 18 [1940]
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.
VWL2414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.C. Walton (BBC) 19520522 22nd. May, 1952.
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]
VWL1571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19390625 June 25 [1939]
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]
VWL1301 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380522 Sunday [22 May 1938]
VWL1513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19390126 January 26 [1939]
VWL1205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19370816 August 16 1937
VWL1303 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380530 Monday [30 May 1938]
VWL3051 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor Arthur Hutchings 19481029 October 29 [1948]
VWL3081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Porter Kier 19550418 April 18th 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