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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 19140406 April 6th [1914]
VWL397 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19140404 [About 4th April 1914]
VWL396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19140401 [About 1st April 1914]
VWL392 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Athelstan Riley 19140211 February 11 1914
VWL388 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 19131103 [About 3 November 1913]
VWL386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19130122 [22 January 1913]
VWL383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19120530 May 30th [1912]
VWL381 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19120118 [18th January 1912]
VWL380 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19120119 Jan 19th [1912]
VWL379 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19120104 Jan 4th 1912
VWL378 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19111231 [31st December 1911]
VWL376 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19111118 [About 18th November 1911]
VWL375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19111110 Nov 10th [1911]
VWL374 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19111106 Nov.6.11
VWL373 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19110708 [8th July 1911]
VWL372 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19110617 [17th June 1911]
VWL369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19110429 Apr. 29/11
VWL368 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19110425 April 25th [1911]
VWL366 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Charrington 19101112 [12th November 1910]
VWL365 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19100715 [About 15th July 1910]
VWL364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Reeves 19100512 [12 May 1910]
VWL363 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19100509 [9th May 1910]
VWL362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19100508 [About 8th May 1910]
VWL361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19100501 [Before 6th May 1910]
VWL360 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19100307 [7th March 1910]
VWL359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19191127 27/11/19
VWL358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19190822 22/8/19
VWL357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 191910-- [?about October 1919 ]
VWL356 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191807-- [Summer 1918]
VWL353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 191606-- [Late June 1916]

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