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
VWL4920 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 193----- [1930s?]
VWL4828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19341014 Oct 14th [1934?]
VWL4826 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 193308-- [August 1933]
VWL4824 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19330220 Feb 20 [1933]
VWL4711 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Thackeray 19400831 Aug 31 1940
VWL4300 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marc Vignal 19570303 March 3rd, 1957.
VWL4284 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Richmond 19481014 14th October, 1948.
VWL3989 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19330624 [24 June 1933]
VWL3988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19330102 Jan 2d 1933
VWL3894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3861 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19480708 8th July, 1948.
VWL3603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Busch 19381105 Nov 5 [1938]
VWL3572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19571005 October 5th 1957.
VWL3436 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Paul Henry Lang 19561018 October 18th, 1956
VWL2998 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550224 February 24th 1955.
VWL2823 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19540531 May 31st 1954.
VWL2170 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19470430 [30th April 1947].
VWL1897 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19450725 July 25 [1945]
VWL1462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401021 Oct 21 [1940]
VWL1183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19340122 [22nd January 1934]
VWL1164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 193109-- [September, 1931]
VWL1046 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A.H. Fox-Strangways 19330220 Feb. 20 [?1933]
VWL638 Letter from Lucy Broadwood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19281101 [About 1st November 1928]
VWL588 Letter from Carl Stoeckel to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19250616 June 16th, 1925.
VWL495 Letter from Edwin Evans to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220508 May 8th, 1922.
VWL397 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19140404 [About 4th April 1914]
VWL151 Draft notes by Ralph Vaughan Williams relating to Cecil Sharp’s English Folksongs (London 1907) 190705-- [?May 1907]

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