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
VWL2950 Foreword from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Society for the Promotion of New Music 195403-- [About March 1954]
VWL2949 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cambridge University Music Society 195403-- [March 1954]
VWL2946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490209 9th February, 1949
VWL2938 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19481229 29th December, 1948.
VWL2934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19481216 16th December, 1948
VWL2933 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19481215 15 January, 1948
VWL2932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney P. Waddington 19481215 Dec 15 [1948]
VWL2929 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert John Sumsion 1953---- [1953 or later]
VWL2928 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alan Barlow 1954---- [1954?]
VWL2926 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19541227 December 27th [1954] .
VWL2924 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19541225 December 25th 1954.
VWL2923 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hiromichi Koike 19531208 December 8th 1953 
VWL2922 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19481229 December 29 [after 1948?]
VWL2921 Letter from Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 1953---- [1953-1957]
VWL2920 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19521014 14 Oct 1952
VWL2919 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19520918 18 Sep 1952
VWL2918 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19511124 24th November, 1951.
VWL2917 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19510512 12 May 1951
VWL2916 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500908 8th September, 1950.
VWL2915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Müller-Hartmann and Hornstein families 19481016 Oct 16 [about 1948?]
VWL2914 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19501017 Oct 17 [?1950]
VWL2913 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500512 [12 May 1950]
VWL2912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500511 11th May, 1950.
VWL2911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491123 23rd November, 1949
VWL2910 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491109 9th November, 1949
VWL2909 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491102 2nd November 1949
VWL2907 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19490104 January 4 [1949]
VWL2906 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480927 Sep 27 [1948? or later]
VWL2905 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480529 May 29 [1948?]
VWL2904 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 1948---- Sunday [?1948 or later]

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