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
VWL3751 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19491102 2nd. November, 1949.
VWL3750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19491214 14th December, 1949.
VWL3749 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19500104 4th January, 1950.
VWL3748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19500125 25th January 1950.
VWL3747 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19500414 April 14 [about 1950]
VWL3746 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Winifred Cole 19500426 April 26 [1950]
VWL3744 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 1953---- 1953
VWL3743 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 1949---- [about 1949?]
VWL3741 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390907 Thursday, [7 September, 1939?]
VWL3729 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice & John Sumsion 19421023 Oct 23, [1942]
VWL3727 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19390605 June 5, [1939]
VWL3726 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19370920 [20 September, 1937]
VWL3725 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stephanie Pinthus 19370126 January 26th, 1937.
VWL3716 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 1950---- Oct 14 [about 1950]
VWL3715 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Winifred Cole 19510512 12 May 1951
VWL3714 Letter from Margot Fonteyn to Vaughan Williams Memorial subscribers 195903-- March, 1959
VWL3713 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL3712 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340205 Monday [February 5 1934]
VWL3710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19580428 26th [April 1958]
VWL3700 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19560417 April 17th 1956.
VWL3695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Riddick 19570122 January 22nd 1957.
VWL3693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19580416 16 April 1958
VWL3691 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 1954---- [about 1954?]
VWL3690 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 1954---- [1954?]
VWL3688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19571220 December 20th 1957
VWL3687 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19500920 20th September, 1950.
VWL3686 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19500821 Aug 21 [1950]
VWL3685 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL3683 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19470207 Feb 7 [1947]
VWL3682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19460705 July 5 [1946]

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