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
VWL1516 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19471016 Oct 16 [1947]
VWL1509 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 Monday [9th January 1939]
VWL1504 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194103-- [March 1941]
VWL1469 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19401103 Sunday [3rd November 1940]
VWL1457 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 [9th January 1939]
VWL1401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL1379 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19400127 Jan 27 [1940]
VWL1356 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19400101 New Years Day [1940]
VWL1347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 1935---- Sunday [1935]
VWL1305 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herma Fiedler 19380603 June 3 [1938]
VWL1240 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19340508 [8th May 1934]
VWL1224 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390915 [15th September 1939]
VWL1221 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390823 Aug 23 [1939?]
VWL1204 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19370816 Aug 16th [1937]
VWL1201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19370806 Aug 6th 1937
VWL1200 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370728 [28th July 1937]
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL1188 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370708 July 8 [1937?]
VWL1183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19340122 [22nd January 1934]
VWL1178 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 193105-- Monday [early May 1931]
VWL1168 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370514 Friday [14th May 1937]
VWL1162 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370401 April 1 [1937]
VWL1143 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370225 Feb 25 [1937]
VWL1142 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370221 Sunday [21st February 1937]
VWL1141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Fisher 19370202 Tuesday [2nd February 1937]
VWL1131 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 193310-- [about October 1933]
VWL1108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19361123 [23rd November 1936]
VWL1105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cuthbert Bates 19331022 Oct 22d [after 1933]
VWL1077 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19330811 Friday night [?11th August 1933 ]
VWL1076 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19330804 August 4 [1933]

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