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
VWL1539 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19410613 June 13 [1941]
VWL1530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19410407 April 7 [1941]
VWL1520 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19410118 Jan 18 [1941]
VWL1507 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 1940---- [1940]
VWL1487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (Oxford University Press) 194004-- [About April 1940]
VWL1367 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19380722 July 22 [1938]
VWL1364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL1359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL1346 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19341225 Xmas Day
VWL1339 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foster Clark (BBC) 19341127 Nov 27 [1934]
VWL1322 Letter from Percy Dearmer to Humphrey Milford 19341022 22nd October 1934
VWL1271 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19340730 [30 Jul 1934]
VWL1262 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340610 [10 June 1934]
VWL1248 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19371025 [24 Oct 1937]
VWL1210 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP) 19320302 [2 March 1932]
VWL1192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19340225 Feb 25 [1934]
VWL1147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Sumsion 193108-- [?August 1931]
VWL1129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19331226 Dec 26 [1933 ]
VWL1124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19331207 Dec 7 [1933]
VWL1122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19340103 [3 January 1934]
VWL1121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19331112 Nov 12 [1933]
VWL1050 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19330318 March 18 [1933]
VWL1020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19321113 [About 13th November 1932]
VWL1011 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19320920 [20th September 1932]
VWL999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19320320 March 20 [1932]
VWL988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311217 [17 December 1931]
VWL986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311214 [14 December 1931]
VWL969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311106 Nov 6 1931
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300413 Sunday [April 13 1930]

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