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
VWL1295 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340910 [About 10th September 1934]
VWL1294 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19340909 Sunday [?9 September 1934]
VWL1293 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340906 Thurs [6th September 1934]
VWL1292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340905 Wed [5th September 1934]
VWL1291 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340904 Tuesday [4 September 1934]
VWL1290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340829 Wed [29th August 1934]
VWL1289 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19340828 Tuesday [probably 28 August 1934]
VWL1285 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denis Dowling 19380414 April 14 [1938 or 1939]
VWL1282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19380308 March 8 [1938]
VWL1281 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19380213 [13 February 1938]
VWL1279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19350816 August 16 [1935?]
VWL1277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19380127 January 27 [1938]
VWL1276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19380126 [Jan. 26, 1938]
VWL1275 Letter from Sir Henry Wood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380125 25th January 1938.
VWL1274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380124 Jan 24 [1938]
VWL1273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19380103 Jan 3d [1938]
VWL1272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340805 Sunday [?5th August 1934]
VWL1269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340725 [About 25th July 1934]
VWL1268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19340722 July 22 [1934]
VWL1267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340722 [22nd July 1934]
VWL1266 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19340714 14 JUL 34
VWL1265 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340730 Monday [30th July 1934]
VWL1264 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340705 [5th July 1934]
VWL1262 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340610 [10 June 1934]
VWL1259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340530 [30 May 1934]
VWL1258 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19340527 [27th May 34]
VWL1255 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19371205 Dec 5 [1937]
VWL1254 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19371127 Nov 27th [1937]
VWL1252 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19371108 [8th November 1937]
VWL1251 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19371102 Tuesday [2 November 1937]

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