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
VWL1609 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Director-General (BBC) 19391018 Oct. 18 [1939]
VWL1604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19411217 Dec 17 1941
VWL1543 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Farjeon 19410627 June 27 [c.1941]
VWL1542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19410624 June 24 [?1941]
VWL1537 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Kennet 19410520 May 20th, 1941.
VWL1523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19390306 March 6 [1939]
VWL1500 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 194010-- [October 1940]
VWL1483 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19401231 Dec 31 [1940]
VWL1474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401203 3rd December 1940
VWL1473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401125 Nov 25 [1940?]
VWL1468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19401031 October 31 [1940]
VWL1460 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401015 [15th October 1940]
VWL1433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL1430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL1419 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Librarian , King’s College, Cambridge. 19400425 April 25th 1940
VWL1407 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19381113 Nov 13 [1938]
VWL1394 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Daniel Jones 19400406 April 6th [1940]
VWL1393 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Farjeon 19400412 April 12 [1940]
VWL1392 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Pilgrim Trust 19400403 April 3 [1940]
VWL1385 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19400214 Feb 14 [1940]
VWL1328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380623 June 23 [?1938]
VWL1321 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard van Dieren 19341020 October 20 [?1934]
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL1168 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370514 Friday [14th May 1937]
VWL1048 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330311 [11 March 1933]
VWL952 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19360614 June 14 [1936]
VWL943 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Boris Ord 19360512 May 12th [c1936?]
VWL802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351006 October 6 [1935]
VWL769 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350822 Aug 22 [1935]
VWL758 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19360714 July 14th [1936]

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