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
VWL209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 19061001 [About 1st October 1906]
VWL145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 190610-- [?October 1906]
VWL208 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19060911 September 11 [1906]
VWL143 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 190609-- [?September 1906]
VWL144 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 190609-- [?September 1906]
VWL5108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of the Morning Post 19060828 August 28, 1906
VWL142 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19060820 [20 August 1906]
VWL207 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19060806 [6th August 1906]
VWL206 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19060801 [About 1st August 1906 ]
VWL141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190608-- [?August 1906]
VWL205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.A. Streatfeild 19060701 July 1st [1906]
VWL139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 190607-- [July 1906]
VWL5134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Daily Chronicle 19060526 Saturday 26 May, 1906
VWL140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19060401 [1st April 1906]
VWL138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190603-- [?March 1906]
VWL200 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19051112 [12th November 1905]
VWL199 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19050531 May 31st [1905]
VWL198 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19050428 April 28th [1905]
VWL197 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050326 [On or about March 26 1905]
VWL196 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050324 March 24 [1905]
VWL195 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050316 March 16th [1905]
VWL194 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050314 March 14th [1905]
VWL193 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050309 March 9th [1905]
VWL3986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to F.W. Evans 19050306 6 March 1905
VWL191 Letter from William Barclay Squire to F.W. Evans 19050302 2 March 1905
VWL190 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19050201 [1st February 1905]
VWL189 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19050115 Jan 15th 1905
VWL4321 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1905---- [between 1905-November, 1907]
VWL4999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lionel Benson 1905---- [ca 1905]
VWL4320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19041231 [31 December, 1904]

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