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
VWL4600 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580727 [July 27th, 1958]
VWL4599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1925---- [1925]
VWL4598 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Coffman 19541121 November 21st 1954
VWL4592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19340713 July 13th [1934]
VWL4591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19521019 Oct 18 [1952]
VWL4590 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Scott 19551226 December 26th 1955.
VWL4589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Flora Mann 19210829 [29 August 1921]
VWL4586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Windley 19520820 20th August, 1952
VWL4585 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams’s cat to Marjory Jordan 19530913 September 13th. [1953]
VWL4583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christovam Pavia 19501123 23rd November, 1950.
VWL4582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W. Norman Boase 19270216 Feb 16th [about 1927]
VWL4581 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ida Darwin 19200629 June 29 [about 1920?]
VWL4580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to E Winder 19230214 Feb 14th 1923
VWL4579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Thorpe 1930---- [1930-1934]
VWL4578 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Macaulay Trevelyan 19490525 25th May, 1949.
VWL4577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Edwards Park 19330311 March 11th 1935
VWL4576 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lewis Baer 19541003 October 3rd 1954
VWL4575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Morgan 19530817 August 17th 1953
VWL4574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dr Schneeweiss 1942---- Oct 18 [1942?]
VWL4573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Schneeweiss 1942---- Sept 28 [1942]
VWL4570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 194----- Oct 31 [1940s?]
VWL4568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to S.B. Lewertoff 19460317 March 17 [1946]
VWL4567 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Gerald Kelly 19521127 27th November, 1952.
VWL4566 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Menges 19420913 Sept 13 [1942]
VWL4565 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Smith 19530120 20th January, 1953.
VWL4564 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Walter Susskind 194-0610 June 10 [late 1940s?]
VWL4562 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Watkins Shaw 19540601 June 1st 1954
VWL4561 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Walford Davies 19360329 March 29 [1936]
VWL4559 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 1946---- [early 1946]
VWL4558 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19430518 May 18 [1943]

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