Ralph Vaugh­an William’s first crit­i­cal and pop­u­lar suc­cess came fair­ly late, when he was 33. This was the remark­able song for cho­rus and orches­tra Toward the Unknown Region, based on Walt Whitman’s poem from the “Whis­pers of Heav­enly Death” sec­tion of Leaves of Grass : Read more »