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
VWL1184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage 19340128 Sunday [28th January 1934]
VWL1182 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage at the BBC 19340118 Jan 18 [1934]
VWL1181 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage at the BBC 19340113 Jan 13 1934
VWL1163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 193108-- [About August 1931]
VWL1125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19331214 Dec 14 [1933]
VWL1106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr. Bridgewater (BBC) 19361025 Sunday [25 October 1936]
VWL1091 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19361010 Oct 10th [1936]
VWL1089 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr. Bridgewater (BBC) 19361009 Oct 9th [1936]
VWL1086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19330815 August 15 [1933]
VWL1078 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19330810 August 10 [1933]
VWL1044 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19330207 February 7 1933
VWL1029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19330123 [23 January 1933]
VWL982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19360921 Sep 20 [1936]
VWL977 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foster Clark (BBC) 19360810 August 10 [1936]
VWL975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19311122 Nov 22 [1931]
VWL973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19311119 [About 19th November 1931]
VWL972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19311117 November 17 [1931]
VWL954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19310920 September 20 [1931]
VWL938 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19310802 August 2nd [1931]
VWL907 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult at the BBC 19310322 [22 March 1931]
VWL902 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Tillett 19310126 [26 January 1931]
VWL900 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Tillett 19310120 January 20 [1931]
VWL897 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Owen Mase (BBC) 19310105 [5th January 1931]
VWL838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19300119 Sunday [19th January 1930]
VWL748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19350626 June 26 [1935]
VWL716 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19340520 [20 May 1935]
VWL681 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson at the BBC 19290730 [30 July 1929]
VWL671 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19290604 [4 June 1929]
VWL447 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19350414 April 14 [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