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
VWL4856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193-- [1933 or later]
VWL4848 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19330220 [late February 1933]
VWL4855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL2837 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Hamber 19481020 20th October, 1948.
VWL2094 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Hamber 19460908 Sept 8 [1946]
VWL2628 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Hamber 19530128 28th January, 1953.
VWL2944 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Hamber 19490126 26th January, 1949.
VWL2682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19530513 13th May, 1953
VWL2219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19510429 [29th April 1951]
VWL2835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19481020 20th October, 1948.
VWL2985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19490428 28th April, 1949
VWL1768 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 1950---- Friday [?1950]
VWL2241 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19510520 [20th May 1951]
VWL501 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 19220713 July 13 [1922]
VWL759 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 192201-- [January 1922]
VWL1475 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 19401204 [Received on 7th December 1940]
VWL484 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 192112-- [December 1921]
VWL470 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 19210205 5 Feb 1921
VWL570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 19240921 21/9/24
VWL4719 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Pitt 1920---- [1920s?]
VWL4718 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Pitt 1915---- [c.1915-1916]
VWL4599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1925---- [1925]
VWL4108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 19141211 Dec. 11 14
VWL4502 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 191905-- [May, 1919]
VWL1136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1930---- [c.1930]
VWL668 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Penelope Spencer 19290331 [About 31st March 1929]
VWL656 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Penelope Spencer 19290121 [Third week of January 1929]
VWL3972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 19510207 7th February 1951
VWL3970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 194807-- Sunday [July 1948]
VWL3971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 19510119 Jan 19 [1951]

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