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
VWL4751 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19520213 13th February, 1952
VWL4741 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19451004 Oct 4 [1945]
VWL4715 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret Field-Hyde 19570407 April 7th 1957.
VWL4540 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511227 27th December, 1951.
VWL4509 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19410515 May 15 [1941?]
VWL4495 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19390501 May 1 [1939]
VWL4187 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19560821 August 21st 1956
VWL4077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19270708 July 8 [1927]
VWL3523 Letter from Elizabeth Poston to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19570610 10th June, 1957
VWL3522 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570603 [3rd June 1957]
VWL3482 Letter from Robin Milford to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19570425 25.IV.57
VWL3178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19490615 15th June, 1949.
VWL2871 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Barrie Greenwood 19540905 September 5th 1954
VWL2248 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kirstie Milford 193-1018 Oct 18 [1930s?]
VWL1635 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 194205-- [?May 1942]
VWL1584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19411106 Nov 6 [1941]
VWL1559 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19390414 Friday [14th April 1939]
VWL1535 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19410511 Sunday [11th May 1941]
VWL1401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL1174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19370414 [14 April 1937]

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