Inspiring Atheists

One of the more condescending arguments used by sufferers from religion, and ranking alongside their claim to hold a monopoly on morality for demonstrably unjustified arrogance, is that without religion we wouldn't have great works of art, music, etc., because only religion can inspire human beings to artistic creativity.

While there can be little doubt that religious subjects were often the subject of great works of art or musical composition - the breath-taking beauty of Handel's Messiah and Van Gough's "The Sower" spring to mind. (Some might struggle to see the religion in Van Gough's works but it absolutely pervades it. Look at the painting on the right. It's one of Vincent van Gough's most profoundly religious paintings, in my opinion).

I'll maybe write a blog about Atheist artists one day. This one is about Atheist composers.

It will probably come as a surprise to religion sufferers who like to pretend their co-superstitionists have a monopoly on artistic creativity that there is an enormous list of Atheist and non-believer composers, and that many of them wrote 'religious' music. Some of them, like Elgar and Mozart lost faith in later life, so whatever religious beliefs may have inspired their earlier works, they clearly never inspired them to remain religious.

This list includes many of the better-known Atheist composers and songwriters. Enjoy listening to music not inspired by superstitious belief in gods.

	Giuseppe Verdi 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901 Italian Romantic Composer Requiem Nabucco: Va Pensiero (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) Triumphal March from Aida
Irving Berlin May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989 Russian-born American composer and lyricist widely considered one of America's greatest songwriters. White Christmas God Bless America
	Aaron Copeland 14 November 1900 – 2 December 1990 American composer, composition teacher, writer and conductor. Simple Gifts, Variations On A Shaker Theme from Appalachia Spring. (Used here as musical setting for paintings by F.E.Church, a Hudson River School painter). Fanfare For The Common Man
John Lennon 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980 British popular musician, singer and songwriter. Imagine Woman Give Peace A Chance God
	Sir Edward Elgar 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934 English classical composer (Former Roman Catholic who became an Atheist in later life) Nimrod (Enigma Variations) Cello Concerto Pomp And Circumstance Marches (Land of Hope And Glory)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791 Austrian classical baroque composer Requiem Mass in D Minor (unfinished). Completed posthumously by Franz Xaver Süssmayr Symphony No. 40 in G minor
	Ludwig van Beethoven 16 December 1770 – 26 March 1827 German composer, transitional between European Classical and Romantic. Kyrie Eleison (Missa Solemnis) Ode to Joy (Symphony No. 9) Moonlight Sonata (Piano Sonata No. 14)
George Gershwin 26 September 1898 – 11 July 1937 American popular songwriter and classical composer. Rhapsody In Blue It Ain't Necessarily So - The Things That You're Liable To Read In The Bible (Porgy And Bess)
	Johannes Brahms 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897 German-born Romantic composer who worked in Vienna, Austria. A German Requiem, To Words of the Holy Scriptures, Op. 45 Brahm's Lullaby (sung by Nat King Cole)
Ralph Vaughan Williams 12 October 1872 – 26 August 1958 English classical composer, hymn writer and collector of English folk song. Great nephew of Charles Darwin. The Lark Ascending Christmas Cantata (Hodie) Old One Hundredth (Attrib. Loys Bourgeois (c.1510 – c.1560); Arr. R.Vaughan Williams for Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II) Down Ampney (music for the hymn Discendi, Amor santo by Bianco of Siena, ca.1434)
	Maurice Ravel 7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937 French composer probably (though he denied it) influence by the Impressionist art movement. Boléro Pavane pour une infante defunte (Pavane For A Dead Child)
Gioachino Rossini 29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868 Italian composer of opera, 'sacred' and chamber music. William Tell Overture The Barber Of Seville - Overture
	Hector Berlioz 11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869 French Romantic composer and musical critic. Requiem (Grande messe des morts) Symphonie fantastique
Robert Schumann 8 June 1810 – 29 July 1856 German Romantic composer and music critic Cello Concerto in A Minor Op.129 - first movement. Kinderszenen, Op. 15 - Träumerei.
	Georges Bizet 25 October 1838 – 3 June 1875 French composer, mainly operas. Habanera from Carmen (sung by Angela Gheorghiu) Duet from Les pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers)
Richard Strauss 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949 German Romantic and early Modern composer. Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra) An Alpine Symphony
	Sergei Prokofiev 23 April 1891 – 5 March 1953 20th Century Russian composer, pianist and conductor. "Troika" from The Kijé Suite Peter and the Wolf Arise, Ye Russian People from the music for Sergei Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky
Scott Joplin c.1867 – 1 April 1917 African-American composer and pianist most noted for rag-time jazz compositions. Maple Leaf Rag The Entertainer

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