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
VWL942 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19360506 Wednesday [6th May 1936]
VWL941 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL939 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Sumsion 19310809 August 9 [1931]
VWL938 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19310802 August 2nd [1931]
VWL937 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360213 Feb 13 [1936]
VWL933 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360212 Feb 12 [1936]
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL923 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Raverat 19310712 July 12 [1931]
VWL921 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19310630 Tuesday [30th June 1931]
VWL919 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19310621 June 21 [1931]
VWL916 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19320610 Friday [10th June 1932]
VWL914 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19310518 Monday [18th May 1931]
VWL910 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19310409 April 9 [1931]
VWL909 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19310405 April 5 [1931]
VWL905 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19310307 March 7 [1931]
VWL900 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Tillett 19310120 January 20 [1931]
VWL899 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19310118 January 18 [1931]
VWL881 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Ellingford 19301209 December 9 [1930]
VWL879 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19360208 8 Feb 1936
VWL867 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Daniel Gregory Mason 19300819 August 19 [1930]
VWL866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederic Wilkinson 19360208 Feb 8th [1936]
VWL865 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19360126 Sunday [26 January 1936]
VWL863 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360109 Jan 9 [1936]
VWL859 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19300702 July 2 [1930]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300413 Sunday [April 13 1930]
VWL853 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL852 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19300316 March 16 [1930]

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