Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, The

Opera by Vaughan Williams (libretto by composer, based on Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress), produced in London at the Royal College of Music on 11 July 1922. In the story, a Pilgrim on way to Celestial City is summoned by a heavenly messenger and is duly anointed by three Shepherds, who assist his journey on the River of Death. See Pilgrim's Progress, The.