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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL2313 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 19470807 7th August, 1947
VWL2169 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 19470423 [23rd April 1947]
VWL2137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 19461101 Nov 1 [1946]
VWL2072 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500809 9th August, 1950
VWL1995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500524 24th May, 1950
VWL1915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Mü̈ller-Hartmann 19440516 May 16th [1944]
VWL1869 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19450104 Jan 4th [1945]
VWL1857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 19450102 Jan 2nd 1945
VWL1828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 194711-- November, 1947
VWL1792 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19430714 July 14 1943
VWL1773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 194503-- [March 1945]
VWL1772 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 1945012- [late January 1945]
VWL1757 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19430411 April 11 [1943]
VWL1708 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19421018 Oct 18 [1942]
VWL1614 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19411226 [26 December 1941]
VWL1450 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19411218 Dec 18 [1941]
VWL1428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19400806 Aug 6th 1940
VWL1277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19380127 January 27 [1938]
VWL682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 193908-- Sunday [before September 1939]

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