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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
VWL3208 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19551022 [22 Oct 1955]
VWL3204 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19551013 Oct 13 [1955]
VWL3136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19491013 13th October, 1949.
VWL3100 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19550701 July 1st 1955.
VWL2997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19550220 February 20th 1955.
VWL2978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs H.F. Stewart 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL2959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490309 9th March, 1949
VWL2946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490209 9th February, 1949
VWL2936 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481216 16th December, 1948.
VWL2649 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19530214 February 14th 1953.
VWL2530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521030 Oct 30 1952
VWL2492 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19511014 Oct 14 [1951]
VWL2487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL2457 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520806 6th August, 1952
VWL2404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520416 16th April, 1952.
VWL2351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19510818 18.8.51
VWL2184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19470531 31st May, 1947.
VWL1996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500524 24th May 1950.
VWL1967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500104 4th January, 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