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.

Searching:
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
VWL1656 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1945---- [Sometime between 1938 and 1946]
VWL3678 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19400908 Sunday [8th September 1940]
VWL4408 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1910---- [ca 1910]
VWL4317 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191412-- [December, 1914]
VWL4326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 19370803 August 3 [1937]
VWL4715 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret Field-Hyde 19570407 April 7th 1957.
VWL2812 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe (BBC) 19540331 March 31st 1954.
VWL4174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19260418 April 18 [1926]
VWL1339 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foster Clark (BBC) 19341127 Nov 27 [1934]
VWL1401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL4741 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19451004 Oct 4 [1945]
VWL2737 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ferdinand Rauter 19531026 Oct 26 [1953 or later]
VWL666 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 192908-- [July/August 1929]
VWL2784 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480812 12th August, 1948.
VWL4280 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521110 Nov 10 [1952]
VWL3376 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580209 February 9th 1958.
VWL1463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401026 Oct 26 [1940]
VWL4410 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1912---- Sat. [ca 1912]
VWL4314 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19140817 Monday [17 August, 1914]

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