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
VWL1988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Hutchings 19500330 30th March, 1950
VWL1987 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500330 30th March, 1950
VWL1986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Butterworth 19500322 March 22 [1950]
VWL1985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Budden 19500322 22nd March, 1950.
VWL1984 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500322 22nd March, 1950
VWL1982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19500308 8th March, 1950
VWL1981 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19500315 15th March, l950.
VWL1980 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500305 1st March, 1950
VWL1979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500222 22nd February, 1950
VWL1974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bruce Flegg 19500119 Jan 19 [1950]
VWL1973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ibbs and Tillett 19500111 11 January, 1950
VWL1967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500104 4th January, 1950.
VWL1965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19500103 Jan 3 [?1950]
VWL1963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19451006 Oct 6 [1945]
VWL1962 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19450915 Sept 15 [1945]
VWL1960 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 1944---- [1943 or 1944]
VWL1958 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194409-- [September 1944]
VWL1956 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Smith 19441227 Dec 27 [1944]
VWL1954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19441227 Dec 27 [1944]
VWL1953 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19441226 Dec 26 [1944]
VWL1946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19450821 Aug 21 [1945]
VWL1945 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19450808 Aug 8 [1945]
VWL1944 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19450807 Aug 7th [1945]
VWL1943 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19450803 Aug 3 [1945]
VWL1940 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19441015 October 15 [1944]
VWL1932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reverend James Welch 19440908 Sept 8 [1944]
VWL1930 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ann Boult 19440826 August 26 [1944]
VWL1929 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Smith 19440819 August 19 [1944]
VWL1928 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19440819 Aug 19th [1944]
VWL1924 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19440801 August 1 [1944]

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