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
VWL4158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL4157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511118 November 18th 1951.
VWL4156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510919 19th September, 1951.
VWL4153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 195108-- [August 1951?]
VWL4152 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 195108-- Monday [August 1951]
VWL4151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510728 July 28 [1951]
VWL4150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510413 April 13 [1951?]
VWL4148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500503 3rd May, 1950.
VWL4147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510517 17th May, 1951.
VWL4146 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500330 30th March, 1950.
VWL4145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500322 22nd. March, 1950.
VWL4144 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19491207 7th December, 1949.
VWL4117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hal Burton 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL4116 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Watson 19510207 7th February, 1951.
VWL4107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19490217 17th February, 1949.
VWL4106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480708 8th July, 1948.
VWL4105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480716 16th July, 1948.
VWL4023 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19440313 [13 March 1944]
VWL3864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1952---- Whit Sunday [1952?]
VWL3686 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19500821 Aug 21 [1950]
VWL3513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570512 May 12th 1957.
VWL3428 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19560929 September 29th 1956
VWL3277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580706 July 6th 1958
VWL3228 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19551123 Nov 23rd [1955]
VWL3168 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490803 3rd. August, 1949.
VWL3167 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19490805 Friday [5th August 1949]
VWL3162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19490810 10th August, 1949.
VWL3113 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19491109 9th November, 1949.
VWL3104 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550724 July 24th 1955.

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