Ron Chaplin:

>I was wondering what other compositions have used Whitman's poetry as
>inspiration.

Hundreds, if not thousands.  Vaughan Williams alone has several:  Symphony
No.  1 "Sea," Dona nobis pacem, 2 Whitman Songs.  Parry and Stanford, his
teachers, also set Whitman.  Holst has a Dirge for Two Veterans.  Hanson's
Song of Democracy and the Symphony No.  7 "Sea" use Whitman.  Hindemith
also wrote a brief setting of a piece of "When lilacs last," apart from the
complete setting.  Roger Sessions set the complete "When lilacs last" as
well.  Bernstein set "To What You Said" as part of his Songfest.  I can't
think of a Harris setting, but he certainly was influenced by the poetry
of Whitman.  Ernest Bloch's "America" sets a Whitman poem for its choral
finale.  There are undoubtedly many more.  Whitman became especially
popular among composers, particularly British composers, around the turn
of the last century.

Steve Schwartz