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
VWL1591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Isaacs (BBC) 19411127 Nov 27 [1941]
VWL1574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390713 July 13 [1939]
VWL1571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19390625 June 25 [1939]
VWL1570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390702 July 2 [1939]
VWL1568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19390614 June 14 [1939]
VWL1567 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19390612 June 12 [1939]
VWL1559 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19390414 Friday [14th April 1939]
VWL1557 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390325 March 25 [1939]
VWL1526 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to BBC Director General 19410309 March 9 [1941]
VWL1522 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy and Gerald Finzi 19390305 March 5 [1939?]
VWL1521 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19410216 February 16th [1941]
VWL1513 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19390126 January 26 [1939]
VWL1509 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 Monday [9th January 1939]
VWL1472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19401120 Nov 20 [1940]
VWL1469 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19401103 Sunday [3rd November 1940]
VWL1468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19401031 October 31 [1940]
VWL1463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401026 Oct 26 [1940]
VWL1458 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401004 October 4 [1940]
VWL1456 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390107 January 7 [1939]
VWL1445 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19381122 November 22 [1938]
VWL1433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL1430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL1416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400418 April 18 [1940]
VWL1411 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eugene Goossens 19450326 March 26 [1945]
VWL1410 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400324 March 24 [1940]
VWL1398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400303 March 3rd [1940]
VWL1386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19381009 October 9 [?1938]
VWL1368 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to OUP 19380725 July 25 [1938]
VWL1367 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19380722 July 22 [1938]
VWL1366 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380721 Thur [21 July 1938]

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