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
VWL992 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19320101 Jan 1 [1932]
VWL991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311230 [30 December 1931]
VWL990 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19320914 [14 September 1932]
VWL989 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19371228 Dec 28 [1937]
VWL988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311217 [17 December 1931]
VWL987 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19311212 Saturday [31st December 1931]
VWL986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311214 [14 December 1931]
VWL985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311129 [29 November 1931]
VWL984 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19361006 [About 6th October 1936]
VWL983 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360927 [27th September 1936]
VWL982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19360921 Sep 20 [1936]
VWL981 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19360831 Monday smorn [31st August 1936]
VWL980 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams 19410821 Aug 21 [?1941]
VWL979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360818 [18th August 1936]
VWL978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360825 Aug 25 [1936]
VWL977 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foster Clark (BBC) 19360810 August 10 [1936]
VWL976 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311122 [22 November 1931]
VWL975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19311122 Nov 22 [1931]
VWL974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311122 Nov 22nd [1931]
VWL973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19311119 [About 19th November 1931]
VWL972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19311117 November 17 [1931]
VWL971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311106 6 November 1931
VWL970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360809 9 August 1936
VWL969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19311106 Nov 6 1931
VWL968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19360807 [About 7th August 1936]
VWL967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Bax 19311105 [About 5th November 1931]
VWL966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19360802 2nd August 1936
VWL965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311103 [3 November 1931]
VWL964 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 193111-- [After 2nd November 1931]
VWL963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360802 [2 August 1936]

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