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
VWL5272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Ramsay 19360208 February 8 [1936?]
VWL5199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19430907 Sept 7 [1943]
VWL5196 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19440802 Aug 2d [1944]
VWL5156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Boris Ord 19370526 May 26th [late 1930s?]
VWL5146 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Janet Fraser 19470902 2nd September, 1947.
VWL5000 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19391015 Oct 15 [1939]
VWL4997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19411117 Nov 17 [1941]
VWL4959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19470713 Sunday [13 July 1947]
VWL4958 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19470706 July 6 [1947]
VWL4881 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19420511 May 11 [1942]
VWL4859 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19510520 May 20 [1951]
VWL4692 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480321 Sunday [21 March 1948]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL4668 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19451106 Tueday [Nov 6 1945]
VWL4625 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19340622 Friday [22 June 1934]
VWL4525 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1946-- [November, 1946]
VWL4523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19450209 Feb 9 [1945?]
VWL4358 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19480210 Feb 10 [1948]
VWL4356 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Mary Watts 19480310 March 10 [1948]
VWL4278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500909 Sept 9th 1950
VWL4147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510517 17th May, 1951.
VWL4020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400404 April 4 [1940]
VWL4019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400320 March 20 [1940]
VWL3883 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193108-- [August 1931]
VWL3880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193----- [1930s?]
VWL3876 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19360226 [Late February 1936]
VWL3875 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19500405 5th April, 1950.
VWL3874 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193----- [1930s?]
VWL3862 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19380520 [about 20 May 1938]
VWL3855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1931---- [1930s?]

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