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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL782 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350916 September 16 [1935]
VWL1809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19431014 Oct 14th [about 1943?]
VWL1921 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19440706 July 6 [?1944]
VWL1934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19440916 Sept 16 [1944]
VWL2099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19460922 Sept 22 1946
VWL2106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501014 Oct 14 [1950]
VWL2157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501115 15th November, 1950.
VWL2362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19520202 2nd February, 1952.
VWL2488 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19521013 October 13th 1952.
VWL2723 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19390925 Sept 25 [?1939 ]
VWL2768 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480610 10th June, 1948.
VWL2770 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480617 17th June, 1948.
VWL2833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19481014 14th October, 1948.
VWL3057 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491130 Nov 30 [?1949]
VWL3205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19551013 October 13th 1955.
VWL2238 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19510517 17th May 1951
VWL2287 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19511024 24th October, 1951.
VWL2722 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19400924 Sep 24 [?1940]
VWL3139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491002 Oct 2nd [?1949]
VWL3542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19570828 August 28th 1957.
VWL2610 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530110 January 10th 1953.
VWL3148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19490914 14th September, 1949.
VWL125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19110311 [About 11th March 1911]
VWL343 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19131230 [About 30th] Dec. 1913
VWL1350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 1934---- [Early 1930s]
VWL1387 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19381009 Oct 9th 1938
VWL1517 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19390220 Feb 20th [?late 1930s]
VWL1771 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 1949---- Sunday [about 1949]
VWL2085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500920 20th September, 1950.
VWL2087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500927 27th September, 1950.

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