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
VWL1894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the University of St Andrews 19450720 July 20 1945
VWL1257 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19371231 Dec 31 [1937]
VWL1717 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19421022 Oct 22 [1942?]
VWL1427 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19400801 Aug 1st [1940 or later]
VWL779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350911 Sep 11 [1935]
VWL549 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 193606-- [June 1936]
VWL692 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 193703-- [?Mid or late March 1937]
VWL1787 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19430612 [12 June 1943]
VWL703 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350418 April 18th 1935
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]
VWL813 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19351128 28 November 1935
VWL2580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19480318 March 18 [1948]
VWL1895 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19450720 July 20 [1945]
VWL934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360213 Feb 13 [1936]
VWL950 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360522 [22 May 1936]
VWL1073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361009 Friday [9 October 1936]
VWL1138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19370123 [23rd January 1937]
VWL2797 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19540302 March 2nd 1954.
VWL3178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19490615 15th June, 1949.
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360802 [2 August 1936]
VWL970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360809 9 August 1936
VWL757 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350712 July 12th 1935
VWL766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350816 August 16th [1935]
VWL801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350929 Sunday 29 Sep [1935]
VWL1369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19380811 Aug 11 [1938]
VWL4059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 1937---- [1937?]
VWL1110 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361207 Dec 7 [1936]
VWL1112 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361220 December 20 [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