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
VWL1340 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19341129 Nov 29 [?1934]
VWL1338 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19341123 Nov 23 [1934]
VWL1336 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380712 Tuesday [12 July 1938]
VWL1335 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380711 Monday [11 July 1938]
VWL1334 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 19380710 July 10, 1938
VWL1333 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380704 [4th July 1938]
VWL1331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380626 Sunday [26 June l938]
VWL1330 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19380626 June 26 [1938]
VWL1329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380626 [26 June 1938]
VWL1328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380623 June 23 [?1938]
VWL1326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19341107 [About 7th Nov 1934]
VWL1324 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19341104 Nov 4th [1934]
VWL1321 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard van Dieren 19341020 October 20 [?1934]
VWL1318 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19341015 Oct 15 [1934-1952]
VWL1317 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nora Day and Vally Lasker 19341014 Oct 14th 34
VWL1316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19341002 Oct 2 [34]
VWL1315 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340930 [30th September 1934]
VWL1314 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340929 Sep 29 [1934]
VWL1310 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340923 [23rd September 1934]
VWL1309 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19340920 Sept 20th 34
VWL1308 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380614 Midnight - Tuesday [14 June 1938]
VWL1307 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19380611 June 11 [1938]
VWL1306 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380607 June 7 [1938]
VWL1304 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380602 June 2. [1938]
VWL1303 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380530 Monday [30 May 1938]
VWL1302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380528 Sat [28th May 1938]
VWL1301 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19380522 Sunday [22 May 1938]
VWL1299 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380503 Tues May 3rd 1938
VWL1298 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19380426 April 26 [1938?]
VWL1297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340914 [About 14th September 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