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
VWL3014 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret Deneke 19380424 April 24 [1938]
VWL2980 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Smith 19490331 March 31 1949
VWL2977 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490330 March 30 [1949]
VWL2972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Smith 19490321 March 21 [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]
VWL2922 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19481229 December 29 [after 1948?]
VWL2907 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19490104 January 4 [1949]
VWL2905 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480529 May 29 [1948?]
VWL2899 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19450418 April 18 [1945]
VWL2897 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19440423 April 23 [1944]
VWL2895 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Genia Hornstein 1942---- Friday [?1942 or later]
VWL2838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19481022 Oct 22/48
VWL2766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19480605 June 5 [?1948]
VWL2588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett 19480413 April 13 [1948]
VWL2577 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19260906 6 Sep 1926
VWL2571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19480225 Feb 25th [1948]
VWL2514 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19480104 January 4 [1948]
VWL2511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19471227 December 27 [1947]
VWL2339 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 195103-- Sat [March 1951]
VWL2200 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510301 [March 1st 1951]
VWL2183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19470724 July 24 [1947?]
VWL2180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Gray 19380103 Jan 3rd [1938]
VWL2158 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19510101 Jan 1 [1951]
VWL2143 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19471218 Dec 18 [1947]
VWL2140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19461119 Nov 19/46
VWL2139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19461113 Nov 13 [1946]
VWL2089 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19501004 October 4 [1950?]
VWL2086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Leslie (BBC) 19500920 Sep 20 [1950]
VWL2079 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19500901 September 1 [1950?]

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