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
VWL1522 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy and Gerald Finzi 19390305 March 5 [1939?]
VWL1457 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 [9th January 1939]
VWL1509 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19390109 Monday [9th January 1939]
VWL527 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 1939---- [1939?]
VWL4974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19381016 Oct 16 [1938]
VWL1401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herma Fiedler 193807-- [?July 1938]
VWL1305 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herma Fiedler 19380603 June 3 [1938]
VWL694 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herma Fiedler 193806-- [Late June 1938]
VWL3014 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margaret Deneke 19380424 April 24 [1938]
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?]
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]
VWL1108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19361123 [23rd November 1936]
VWL979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360818 [18th August 1936]
VWL953 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360714 July 14 [?1936]
VWL769 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350822 Aug 22 [1935]
VWL768 Letter from Marion Scott to Adeline Vaughan Williams 19350819 Aug. 19th 1935
VWL750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350704 [4th July 1935]
VWL731 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350608 [8th June 1935]
VWL702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350417 April 17 [1935]
VWL418 Letter from Gerald Finzi to Vaughan Williams 19350414 April 14th [1935]
VWL4975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19350405 [5 April 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