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
VWL3789 Letter from Alan Bush to Adolph Borsdorf 19571228 December 28th, 1957.
VWL3736 Letter from Alan Bush to Arnold Goldsbrough 19370131 January 31st, 1936. [i.e. 1937]
VWL3734 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19381228 December 28th, 1938.
VWL3714 Letter from Margot Fonteyn to Vaughan Williams Memorial subscribers 195903-- March, 1959
VWL3708 Letter from Alan Bush to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19580828 August 28th, 1958.
VWL3707 Letter from Alan Bush to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19580828 August 28th, 1958.
VWL3706 Letter from Alan Bush to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19580922 September 22nd, 1958.
VWL3704 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19580906 September 6th 1958.
VWL3562 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19571122 [22 November 1957]
VWL3558 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19571126 November 26th [1957].
VWL3549 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570919 Thursday, [19th September 1957]
VWL3538 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570811 August 11th 1957.
VWL3531 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570723 [23rd July 1957]
VWL3502 Piece on Ralph Vaughan Williams by John Ireland 195809-- [1958]
VWL3276 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580708 [8 July 1958]
VWL3251 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 192703-- Wednesday [March 1927?]
VWL3250 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 193505-- Monday night [May 1935?]
VWL3224 Letter from Benjamin Britten to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19580828 August 28th 1958
VWL3197 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Vera Mackenzie and Molly Hodge 19580904 Sept. 4, 1958
VWL3196 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Margaret Keynes 19580909 September 9th, 1958
VWL3195 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Lady Jessie Wood 19580915 September 15th 1958
VWL3194 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19580921 September 21st 1958
VWL3191 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Mrs Ross Lee Finney 19581122 22nd November 1958
VWL3190 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Nigel Fortune 19590104 January 4th, 1959
VWL3189 Letter from Herbert Byard to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19600427 27 April 1960
VWL3132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19491018 Tuesday [18th October 1949]
VWL3118 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19491106 November 6 [1949]
VWL3004 Letter from Adrian Boult to Adeline Vaughan Williams 19490526 May 26th 1949
VWL2940 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490106 January 6 [1949]
VWL2939 Letter from Adeline Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19481230 December 30 [1948]

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