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
VWL5004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henri Temianka 19371203 Dec 3 [1937]
VWL3961 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19251111 Nov 11, [1925]
VWL2936 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481216 16th December, 1948.
VWL2854 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481208 8th December, 1948.
VWL2465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520909 September 9th [1952]
VWL2447 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520706 July 6 [1952]
VWL2440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520625 25th June, 1952
VWL2415 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520524 May 24th 1952
VWL1948 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19450909 9th September [1945]
VWL1947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19450904 Sept 4 [1945]
VWL1900 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19450803 [3rd August 1945]
VWL1359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL1262 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340610 [10 June 1934]
VWL1181 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage at the BBC 19340113 Jan 13 1934
VWL828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 192910-- [?late 1929]
VWL744 Letter from Frederick Stock to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19350625 25 June 1935
VWL671 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19290604 [4 June 1929]

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