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
VWL4794 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491022 October 22 [1949?]
VWL4793 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491223 Dec 23 [1949?]
VWL4773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19351226 Dec 26 [1935?]
VWL4495 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19390501 May 1 [1939]
VWL4150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510413 April 13 [1951?]
VWL3695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Riddick 19570122 January 22nd 1957.
VWL3484 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570426 April 26th 1957.
VWL3437 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19561018 October 18th 1956
VWL2811 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe (BBC) 19540328 March 28th 1954.
VWL2677 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19530415 15th April, 1953
VWL2670 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL2653 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530215 February 15th 1953.
VWL2646 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19530211 11th February, 1953.
VWL2033 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460412 [12th April 1946]
VWL2031 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460327 March 27 [1946]
VWL2029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460320 March 20 [1946]
VWL663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193904-- [Newcastle, 29th March, 1939]
VWL562 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 193505-- Friday [May 1935?]

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