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
VWL4772 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193412-- [December, 1934]
VWL4771 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340317 March 17 [1934]
VWL4770 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19250131 [31 January 1925]
VWL4769 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Shaw 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL4768 Letter from Adeline Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310419 Sunday [19 April, 1931]
VWL4767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19471119 19 Nov 1947
VWL4766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19450824 [24 Aug 1945]
VWL4765 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (Oxford University Press) 19400916 September 16 [ca 1940]
VWL4764 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19380608 [8] June, 1938
VWL4763 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Choir of Kensington High School 19421022 Oct 22 [1942]
VWL4762 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19300103 Jan 3d [ca 1930]
VWL4761 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 192604-- [April, 1926?]
VWL4760 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 19541124 November 24th 1954.
VWL4759 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510126 Thursday [26 Jan 1951]
VWL4758 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 194----- Sunday [1940s]
VWL4757 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19570426 April 26th 1957.
VWL4756 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19570103 January 3rd 1957.
VWL4755 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19560802 August 2nd 1956.
VWL4754 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19540711 July 11th 1954.
VWL4753 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19530118 18th January, 1953
VWL4752 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19520611 11th June, 1952
VWL4751 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19520213 13th February, 1952
VWL4750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19501018 18th October, 1950
VWL4749 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL4748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL4747 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 194-0901 Sept 1st [late 1940s]
VWL4746 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19460603 June 3d [1946?]
VWL4745 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19401019 Oct 19 [early 1940s]
VWL4744 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 194-1210 Dec 10 [1940s?]
VWL4743 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19490212 Feb 12 [1949?]

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