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
VWL445 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19181116 Nov. 16th [1918?]
VWL439 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19180220 Feb 20th [1918]
VWL432 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19170804 Aug 4 [1917]
VWL427 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19161205 Dec 5th l916
VWL426 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19161021 Saturday Oct 21st [1916]
VWL417 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to David Stanley Smith 19350414 [14th April 1935]
VWL406 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19140701 [1 July 1914 ]
VWL404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19140514 May 14th 1914
VWL400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19140510 May 10th 1914
VWL356 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191807-- [Summer 1918]
VWL353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191606-- [Late June 1916]
VWL352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191606-- [June 1916]
VWL348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191409-- [September 1914]
VWL316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350409 April 9th [1935]
VWL298 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18991231 31st December [1899]
VWL273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the editor of Time & Tide 19350316 16 March l935
VWL247 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 189707-- [July 1897]
VWL245 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 189707-- [July 1897]
VWL244 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 189707-- [July 1897]
VWL236 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 189910-- [October 1899]
VWL234 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 1898---- [1898?]
VWL231 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 1898---- [Late 1898]
VWL229 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 1896---- [1896?]
VWL226 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19220605 [About 5th June 1922]
VWL159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 190801-- [?January 1908]
VWL134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 190306-- [About June 1903]

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