Doris Howe wrote:

>Margaret Mikulska wrote:
>
>>And that's really curious, because Verdi was an atheist.
>
>So, I'm told was Vaughan Williams, who set many hymns to music.

Not quite an atheist.  He often described himself as agnostic, never
anything stronger.  The clue is that in setting Pilgrim's Progress, he
renamed Bunyan's hero from "Christian" to the non-specific "Pilgrim".
Having said which, he wrote and lived squarely within the Anglican
Christian tradition all his life.  Maybe he was hedging his bets!

Christopher Webber,  Blackheath, London,  UK.
http://www.nashwan.demon.co.uk/zarzuela.htm
"ZARZUELA!"