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
VWL2963 Verse to Gerald Finzi [by Finzi] 195408-- [August 1954]
VWL1796 Letter from Ursula Wood to Joy Finzi 19430802 2.8.43
VWL2125 Letter from Ursula Wood to Gerald Finzi 19501218 18.12.50.
VWL2927 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 1953---- Friday [1953?]
VWL3296 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19560321 March 21st [1956]
VWL4968 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19590313 March 13th [1959]
VWL4972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19460806 Aug 6 [1946]
VWL4975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19350405 [5 April 1935]
VWL4969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19401022 Oct 22 [1940]
VWL4971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19480429 29th April, 1948.
VWL4974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19381016 Oct 16 [1938]
VWL4973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19400624 June 24 1940
VWL424 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19160816 Aug 16th [1916]
VWL435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19171202 Dec 2nd 1917
VWL425 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye-Butterworth 19160904 Monday [4th?] Sept [1916]
VWL5136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19211122 22/11/21
VWL4967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19230829 29/8/23
VWL3014 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret Deneke 19380424 April 24 [1938]
VWL1888 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Dorothea Croft 19450512 May 12 [1941-1945]
VWL438 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Dorothea Butterworth 19180216 Saturday [?16th February 1918]
VWL2421 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19471126 26th November, 1947.
VWL1693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19420927 Sunday [?27th September 1942 ]
VWL3150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19490909 [9th September 1949]
VWL2401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19471113 13th November, 1947
VWL1649 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 1945---- [?1945]
VWL2049 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19500712 12th July, 1950.
VWL3149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy & Gerald Finzi 19490911 [11th September 1949]
VWL2599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to J.L. Boston 19480519 19th May, 1948
VWL2109 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to J. L. Boston 19501018 18th October, 1950
VWL695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herma Fiedler 193807-- [?July 1938]

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