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
VWL3792 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500516 May 16 [1950]
VWL3794 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500620 June 20 [1950]
VWL233 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 189903-- [March 1899]
VWL158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 190801-- [January 1908]
VWL1433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL1430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19111130 November 30th [1911]
VWL3020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490605 June 5/49
VWL953 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360714 July 14 [?1936]
VWL633 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19280815 Aug 15 [1928]
VWL3132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19491018 Tuesday [18th October 1949]
VWL1060 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19330707 July 7 [1933]
VWL1763 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19430518 May 18 [1943]
VWL5258 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Abraham 19400303 March 3 [1940]
VWL1777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194701-- [January 1947]
VWL2143 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19471218 Dec 18 [1947]
VWL2183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19470724 July 24 [1947?]
VWL2037 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19460504 May 4 [1946?]
VWL3941 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 194----- Jan 26 [1940?]
VWL2019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19451117 November 17 [?1945]
VWL1298 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19380426 April 26 [1938?]
VWL1282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19380308 March 8 [1938]
VWL3062 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19491123 November 23 [1949]
VWL3078 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19491116 November 16 [1949]
VWL648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 193803-- Wednesday [March 1938?]
VWL866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederic Wilkinson 19360208 Feb 8th [1936]
VWL3963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19370405 April 5 [1937]
VWL1808 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19431014 October 14 [1943]
VWL1307 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19380611 June 11 [1938]
VWL1216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19370921 September 21 [1937]

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