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
VWL4444 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 194908-- [August] 1949
VWL4274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501201 Dec 1 [1950]
VWL2059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote 195007-- [About July 1950]
VWL1848 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote 194904-- [?April 1949]
VWL3843 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1940---- [1940s?]
VWL1947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19450904 Sept 4 [1945]
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL3177 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490622 22nd. June, 1949
VWL1200 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370728 [28th July 1937]
VWL2044 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460704 July 4 [1946?]
VWL5256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Abraham 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19470127 [27th January 1947]
VWL853 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL5191 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19041030 Oct 30th [1904]
VWL1727 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 1945---- [1945]
VWL955 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360715 [15th July 1936]
VWL3299 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19580522 May 22nd 1958
VWL3519 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19570526 May 26th 1957.
VWL2870 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19540903 Sept 3rd 1954
VWL3476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19570401 April 1st 1957.
VWL4273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19570529 May 29 1957
VWL3590 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19571015 October 15th 1957.
VWL3472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19570324 March 24th 1957
VWL592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christian Darnton 193705-- [May 1937?]
VWL765 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350805 Monday [about 5th August 1935]
VWL798 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350923 September 23 [1935]
VWL766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350816 August 16th [1935]
VWL3405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19560520 May 20th 1956.
VWL4981 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19400802 August 2 [1940]
VWL4978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19380703 July 3rd. [1938]

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