The composer writes:
Pilgrim was inspired, it will be no surprise to learn, by reading Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress - Vaughan Williams's great opera on the subject had fascinated me from its first performance, yet it was a longtime before I caught up with this essential item in any well-stocked library of English classics. It made a great impression, not least because of its theme of a journey of self-discovery, and a rediscovery or renewal of faith.These are ideas which have a strong interest...