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
VWL5004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henri Temianka 19371203 Dec 3 [1937]
VWL4868 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1934---- [1934]
VWL4779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 193504-- [April 1935]
VWL4742 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 1940---- [1940s?]
VWL4718 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Pitt 1915---- [c.1915-1916]
VWL4680 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19461107 Thursday [7.11.46]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL4602 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19321226 Monday [26 December 1932]
VWL4588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Richard Standen 19560326 March 26th 1956.
VWL4489 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Evans 19580306 March 6th 1958.
VWL4396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19090609 9 Juin 1909
VWL4395 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19080707 July 7th [1908]
VWL4177 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19290714 July 14 [1929]
VWL4176 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19290310 March 10 [1929]
VWL4175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 192604-- [April? 1926]
VWL4174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ivor Atkins 19260418 April 18 [1926]
VWL4010 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19311126 November 26th, 1931.
VWL3943 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs George McCleary 193----- [1930s?]
VWL3930 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Heseltine 1924---- [1924?]
VWL3912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Hockman 19340422 [22 or 23 April 1934]
VWL3873 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19321228 December 1932
VWL3842 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1932---- Fri [1932?]
VWL3692 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19580610 June 10th 1958
VWL3456 Letter from Michael Tippett to Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams 19561229 29th Dec. 1956
VWL3296 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19560321 March 21st [1956]
VWL3219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert John Sumsion 19551110 November 10th 1955.
VWL3158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 19230418 18 April 1923
VWL3137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Isidore Schwiller 19491013 Oct 13 [1949]
VWL3128 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550808 August 8th 1955.
VWL3086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550502 May 2nd 1955

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