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
VWL1385 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19400214 Feb 14 [1940]
VWL1384 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Janet Fraser 19400205 Feb 5 [1940]
VWL1383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Dowling 19400205 Feb 5th [1940]
VWL1382 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19400202 Feb 2 [1940]
VWL1381 Letter from Sir Henry Wood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19381007 October 7th 1938
VWL1380 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19400130 [30th January 1940]
VWL1378 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19381004 [4th October 1938]
VWL1377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Bush 19380925 Sept 25 [1938?]
VWL1375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380919 [19th September 1938]
VWL1374 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19380917 Sep 17th [?1938]
VWL1373 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400125 Jan 25 [1940]
VWL1372 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19380915 [about 15th September 1938]
VWL1371 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380820 [20th August 1938]
VWL1370 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380817 [17th August 1938]
VWL1366 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380721 Thur [21 July 1938]
VWL1365 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380718 Monday [18 July 1938]
VWL1362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380717 [17th July 1938]
VWL1360 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380715 Friday smorn [15 July 1938]
VWL1358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400111 Jan 11 [1940]
VWL1357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19400106 Jan 6 [1940]
VWL1355 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 193407-- [late July 1934]
VWL1354 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 193404-- [April 1934?]
VWL1353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 193403-- [March 1934]
VWL1352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193309-- [September 1933]
VWL1351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 193508-- [August 1935?]
VWL1349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 1934---- [?1934]
VWL1348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 1934---- [Sometime 1930-1934]
VWL1345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19341212 [12 December 1934]
VWL1343 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19341204 Dec 4. 34
VWL1342 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19341202 Sunday [2 December 1934]

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