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
VWL1376 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19400125 Jan 25 [1940]
VWL1375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380919 [19th September 1938]
VWL1374 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19380917 Sep 17th [?1938]
VWL1373 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400125 Jan 25 [1940]
VWL1372 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19380915 [about 15th September 1938]
VWL1371 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380820 [20th August 1938]
VWL1370 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380817 [17th August 1938]
VWL1369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19380811 Aug 11 [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]
VWL1365 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380718 Monday [18 July 1938]
VWL1364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL1363 Letter from Honorine Williamson to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380717 Sunday [17 July 1938]
VWL1362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380717 [17th July 1938]
VWL1361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400123 Jan 23 [1940]
VWL1360 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380715 Friday smorn [15 July 1938]
VWL1359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19400120 Jan 20 [1940]
VWL1358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400111 Jan 11 [1940]
VWL1357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400106 Jan 6 [1940]
VWL1356 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19400101 New Years Day [1940]
VWL1355 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 193407-- [late July 1934]
VWL1354 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 193004-- [April 1930?]
VWL1353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 193403-- [March 1934]
VWL1352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193309-- [September 1933]
VWL1351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 193509-- [September 1935?]
VWL1350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19340331 [late March 1934]
VWL1349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 1934---- [?1934]
VWL1348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 1934---- [Sometime 1930-1934]
VWL1347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 1935---- Sunday [1935]

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