Vaughan Williams himself prepared the libretto, with interpolations from the Bible and also text from his second wife, Ursula Wood.
The BBC commissioned Vaughan Williams for incidental music for a 1942 radio dramatisation of The Pilgrim's Progress.
[2] Herbert Murrill has characterised the opera as "summarizing in three hours virtually the whole creative output of a great composer".
[4] The conductor was Leonard Hancock, whom Vaughan Williams had personally chosen to conduct the premiere,[5] and the director Nevill Coghill.
However, a student production at the University of Cambridge in 1954 met with greater approval from the composer, notably for the performance of John Noble as Pilgrim.
The North American premiere was on 28 April 1969, at Brigham Young University, a collaborative effort of the College of Fine Arts and Communications, Music Department, Opera Workshop and Symphony Orchestra.
It was staged again in 1992 at the Royal Northern College of Music, with Joseph Ward directing, Igor Kennaway conducting, and Richard Whitehouse singing the role of Pilgrim.
[8] A major staged production was produced by English National Opera at the London Coliseum in November 2012, conducted by Martyn Brabbins and directed by Yoshi Oida, with Roland Wood as Pilgrim.
A new production was performed in the Spring of 2019 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, conducted by David Parry and directed by Jonathan Cocker.
Four neighbours, Pliable, Obstinate, Mistrust and Timorous, appear to warn Pilgrim away from his journey.
After Pilgrim knocks on the door of the House Beautiful, the Interpreter bids him welcome, as a chorus greets him.
Evangelist then returns and gives Pilgrim the Staff of Salvation, the Roll of the Word and the Key of Promise.
In his despair, he clutches at his chest and feels the Key of Promise; after he has put it in the lock, he is instantly freed from prison and his bonds are gone.
The Messenger directs Pilgrim on the path to the Celestial City, to which he must first cross the River of Death.
Epilogue Back in Bedford Gaol, again to the strains of the 'York' psalm tune, Bunyan addresses the audience, holding out his book as an offering.