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
VWL3606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP) 19320311 March 11 [1932]
VWL3607 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP) 19320320 March 20 [1932]
VWL3609 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP) 19320925 September 25 1932
VWL3608 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP) 19320814 August 14 [1932]
VWL5137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Boyce 19550424 April 24th 1955
VWL2709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Barnes 19530802 August 2nd 1953
VWL4285 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Ashmore 19550521 May 21st 1955.
VWL2264 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr and Mrs Victor Sheppard 19510808 8th August, 1951.
VWL4095 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr and Mrs Martin Shaw 193506-- [June 1935]
VWL1253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr ?Garstiers 19371108 Nov 8 [1937]
VWL4265 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Molly Imlach 19571018 18 Oct 1957
VWL2036 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Wingate 19460429 April 29 [1946]
VWL2968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Watkins 19490316 16th March, 1949
VWL4721 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Wadham 19361101 November 1 [1936]
VWL4724 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Wadham 193703-- Tuesday [March 1937]
VWL4722 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Wadham 19361102 Monday [2 November 1936]
VWL5167 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Travers 19520511 May 11 1952
VWL1408 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Townsend 19381115 Nov 12 [1938]
VWL1498 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Townsend 194009-- [September 1940 ]
VWL1443 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Townsend 19381118 [About 18th November 1938]
VWL3142 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Tottenham 1920---- [between 1905-1929]
VWL4711 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Thackeray 19400831 Aug 31 1940
VWL4548 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Simpson 19510527 May 27 [1951]
VWL5030 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Seymour-Whingates 19430906 Sept 6 [1943]
VWL3010 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Scott 194----- [1940s?]
VWL4573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Schneeweiss 1942---- Sept 28 [1942]
VWL3489 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Roberts 19570509 May 9th 1957
VWL3521 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Roberts 19570603 June 3rd 1957
VWL4563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Ricketts 19480423 23rd. April, 1948.
VWL5272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Ramsay 19360208 February 8 [1936?]

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