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
VWL4256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19370119 Jan 19th [1937?]
VWL4257 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19360619 June 19 [1936]
VWL1596 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myra Hess 19391005 Oct 5 [1939]
VWL1529 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myfanwy Jones 19410331 March 31 [1941]
VWL1592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myfanwy Jones 19411130 Nov 30th [1941]
VWL2589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Music Librarian (BBC) 19480414 14th April, 1948.
VWL4979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Muriel James 19541102 November 2nd 1954
VWL4980 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Muriel James 19541216 December 16th 1954
VWL3776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Winser 19471107 7th. November, 1947.
VWL4640 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Willis 19550514 May 14th 1955
VWL4603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 19350411 April 11th, [1935]
VWL4609 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 19370221 February 21 [1937]
VWL4605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 19351102 Nov 2 [1935]
VWL4606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 193511-- Wednesday [November, 1935]
VWL122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs W. Hadley 1907---- [1907?]
VWL443 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Turner 19180511 May 11th [1918]
VWL2802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Turner 19540320 March 20th 1954.
VWL3146 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Tillett 19490919 Sept 19, 1949
VWL4089 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Shaw 19231011 11, 10, 23
VWL3013 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Piper 1915---- [1915]
VWL2672 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Monier Williams 19530325 25th March, l953.
VWL3754 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Mitchell 19461008 October 8th, 1946
VWL4093 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Martin Shaw 193107-- [after 5 July, 1931]
VWL4042 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Lewis Crow 19511016 Oct 16 [1952?]
VWL3310 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Josef Holbrooke 19580404 April 4th 1958
VWL1215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Jenkins 19380920 September 20 [1938]
VWL3137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Isidore Schwiller 19491013 Oct 13 [1949]
VWL5186 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Harvey 19390212 February 12 [1939]
VWL2978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs H.F. Stewart 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL3943 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs George McCleary 193----- [1930s?]

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