On the topic of Whitman settings:
There is also a pair of works by Charles Fussell which are vocal settings
of Whitman poetry:
"Being Music" - text from Whitman's "Song of Myself"
"Specimen Days" - taken from various Whitman works with text arranged by
Will Graham, who added some additional text of his own
Both works are on a Koch CD with baritone Sanford Sylvan, the Lydian String
Quartet and the Cantata Singers, conducted by David Hoose.
The music is very fresh and tonal but modern-sounding, somewhat of an
American analogue to Britten, with a fair amount of text-painting and a few
programmatic allusions to American popular styles here and there.
Steve Bacher