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.

Searching:
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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Filter letters

Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL908 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310329 [29 March 1931]
VWL901 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310125 [25 January 1931]
VWL889 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19301228 [28 December l930]
VWL836 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19300106 [6 January 1930]
VWL830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351217 [17 December 1935]
VWL829 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19300107 7 Jan 1930
VWL819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351202 [2 December 1935]
VWL808 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351103 [3rd November 1935]
VWL793 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 192602-- [February 1926]
VWL767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350817 [17 August 1935]
VWL749 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350628 [28 June 1935]
VWL736 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350614 [14th June 1935]
VWL710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291201 [1 December 1929]
VWL709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291102 [2 November 1929]
VWL706 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350510 May 10 [1935]
VWL688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291003 [3 October 1929]
VWL641 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19281214 [14 December 1928]
VWL548 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193603-- Tuesday [March 1936]
VWL316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350409 April 9th [1935]

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