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
VWL2035 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460425 April 25 [1946]
VWL2034 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19460412 April 12 [1946?]
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]
VWL2021 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19451122 Nov 22 [1945]
VWL2015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19451108 Nov 8 [1945]
VWL1993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19500511 11th May 1950
VWL1991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19500503 3rd. May, 1950.
VWL1949 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19441203 Dec 3 [1944]
VWL1926 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19440813 Aug 13 [1944]
VWL1891 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Victor Hely-Hutchinson (BBC) 19450525 May 25 [1945]
VWL1882 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ann Boult 19490317 March 17 [1949]
VWL1880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Leonard Starey 19450315 [c.15th March 1945]
VWL1871 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19450201 Feb 1 [1945]
VWL1820 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Kantrovich 19431127 Nov 27 [1943]
VWL1793 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Kantrovich 19430726 July 26 [1943]
VWL1777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194701-- [January 1947]
VWL1767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1948---- [later part of 1948]
VWL1759 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Kantrovich 19430403 April 3rd [1943?]
VWL1702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19421013 Oct 13 [1942]
VWL1676 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19420715 July 15 [1942]
VWL1667 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1945---- [Sometime between 1938 and 1946]
VWL1630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420126 Jan 26 [1942]
VWL1627 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19420111 Jan 11 1942
VWL1596 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myra Hess 19391005 Oct 5 [1939]
VWL1557 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390325 March 25 [1939]
VWL1519 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19390302 Thursday [2 March 1939]
VWL1516 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19471016 Oct 16 [1947]
VWL1509 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 Monday [9th January 1939]

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