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
VWL505 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19230102 [2nd January 1923]
VWL504 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19221222 22/12/22
VWL502 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19220417 Friday [14th July 1922]
VWL500 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19220701 [1st July 1922]
VWL499 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19220630 30/6/22
VWL498 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19220627 [27th June 1922]
VWL496 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19220511 Thursday [11 May 1922]
VWL494 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dorothy Newton 19220304 4/3/22
VWL493 Letter from Crompton Llewellyn Davies to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220227 27 Feb 1922
VWL492 Letter from Harold Child to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220218 18 Feb. 1922
VWL490 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 19220202 2/2/22
VWL489 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19220129 [29th January 1922]
VWL488 Letter from Lucy Broadwood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220129 Jan. 29. 1922
VWL486 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 192001-- [?January 1920]
VWL485 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Fleury 192001-- [1920? ]
VWL484 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 192112-- [December 1921]
VWL483 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19211222 22/12/21
VWL479 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 19210816 [About 16th August 1921]
VWL478 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 19210814 14/8/21
VWL477 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr & Mrs Robert F. McEwen 19210722 [22nd July 1921]
VWL476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19211015 [15th October 1921]
VWL475 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19201008 Friday [8 October 1920]
VWL474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19210430 30/4/21
VWL473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19210407 [?early April 1921 ]
VWL471 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19210220 20/2/21
VWL465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19200319 19/3/20
VWL462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19200311 11/3/20
VWL461 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19200311 11/3/20
VWL460 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Fleury 19200310 10/3/20
VWL458 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19200131 [31 January 1920]

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