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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL4693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19570825 25 Aug 1957
VWL4686 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert and Beryl Lock 19541012 [October 1954]
VWL4674 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Mrs Lock 19421025 October 25, [1942]
VWL3391 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19560503 May 3 [1956]
VWL3253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major General and Mrs R Lock 19551227 Dec 27 [1955]
VWL3206 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19551015 [15th Oct 1955]
VWL2991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19550122 January 22nd 1955.
VWL2873 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19540911 September 11th 1954.
VWL2862 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19540822 August 22nd 1954
VWL2748 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Robert and Beryl Lock 19531226 December 26th [1953]
VWL2747 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major General Robert Lock and Beryl Lock 19531226 December 26th 1953.
VWL2735 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19531015 Oct 15 [1953]
VWL2474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Beryl Lock 19520925 Monday [?25th September 1952]
VWL2214 Letter from Ursula Wood to Beryl Lock 19510421 Saturday [21 April 1951]
VWL1674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19420714 July 14 [1942]
VWL1671 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19410627 June 27 [1941]
VWL1577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19410815 Aug 15 [1941]

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