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
VWL3092 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19550603 June 3rd 1955.
VWL3091 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ross Lee Finney 19550603 June 3rd 1955.
VWL3090 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19550521 May 21st 1955.
VWL3089 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19550517 May 17th 1955.
VWL3088 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19550511 May 11 [1955]
VWL3087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550505 May 5th 1955.
VWL3086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550502 May 2nd 1955
VWL3085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550429 April 29th 1955
VWL3084 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550424 [24 April 1955]
VWL3083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550422 April 22 [1955]
VWL3082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Porter Kier 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491115 [On or about 15 November 1949]
VWL3079 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tressider Sheppard, Provost of King’s College Cambridge 19491116 16th November, 1949
VWL3078 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19491116 November 16 [1949]
VWL3077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19491116 16th November, 1949.
VWL3076 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19550418 April 18th 1955
VWL3074 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550402 April 2nd 1955.
VWL3073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550327 March 27th 1955.
VWL3072 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550327 March 27th 1955.
VWL3071 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19550327 March 27th 1955
VWL3070 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19550320 March 20th 1955.
VWL3069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550320 March 20th 1955.
VWL3068 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550320 March 20th 1955.
VWL3067 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Keith Falkner 19550307 March 7th 1955.
VWL3066 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550305 March 3rd [1955]
VWL3065 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550227 February 27th 1955.
VWL3064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19550227 February 27th 1955.
VWL3063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 1935---- [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