The English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams transformed the simple elements of folk song and hymn into a glorious outpouring of musical compositions for solo voice, mixed chorus, and symphony orchestra. But he also incorporated a wide-ranging humanism in his use of texts by John Bunyan, Shakespeare, and Walt Whitman, and in his explorations of the themes of war and heroism.
In contrast to many of his contemporaries in music, Vaughan Williams led a quiet life. He was born on