Guiseppe Verdi - Meisterwerke (Varied)

Continuing my theme of atheist/agnostic composers, to wrench away the arguments that only the religious were responsible for classical music, we come to the influential composer Guiseppe Verdi.  Born in 1813 in a small Italian village, he is known primarily for his operas which have become mainstays of popular culture, especially "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto, "Va, pensiero" (The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) from Nabucco, "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (The Drinking Song) from La traviata and the "Grand March" from Aida [1].  According to his Catholic wife, Verdi was skeptical of religion.

Verdi’s attitude toward religion is clearly indicated in a letter written about him by his wife, Giuseppina: “For some virtuous people a belief in God is necessary. Others, equally perfect, while observing every precept of the highest moral code, are happier believing in nothing.”

Elsewhere, Giuseppina wrote: “He is a jewel among honest men; he understands and feels himself every delicate and elevated sentiment. And yet this brigand permits himself to be, I won’t say an atheist, but certainly very little of a believer, and that with an obstinacy and calm that make me want to beat him. I exhaust myself in speaking to him about the marvels of the heavens, the earth, the sea, etc. It’s a waste of breath! He laughs in my face and freezes me in the midst of my oratorical periods and my divine enthusiasm by saying ‘you’re all crazy,’ and unfortunately he says it with good faith [2]."

Meisterwerke

1. Aida
2. Il Trovatore
3. Nabucco
4. Ouverture i Vespri Siciliani
5. Rigoletto
6. Ouverture la Battaglia di Legnano
7. Ouverture La forza del Destino
8. Macbeth
9. Aida Ouverture

Maurice Ravel - Complete Piano Works (Varied)

 
When speaking in the general defense of religion people often say, "But what about beauty, expression, emotions, aren't those all difficult to explain without religion?"  They may attempt to take claim over classical works composed by the religious.  "We wouldn't have Beethoven, Strauss, Bach, and Stravinsky without religion!"  We atheists are not immune to the transcendent and the numinous.  Enter in Maurice Ravel, a French composer born in 1875.  Often compared to the likes of Claude Debussy, Ravel became one of the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music.  Ravel was an atheist.

Among Ravel's completed works, there is a notable absence of religious forms or references. His habitual inspiration came from nature, from fairy tales and folk songs, and from classical and oriental legends. Nor was he always sympathetic to the religious works of other composers [1].

Pre-Darwinian evolutionary theory, being an atheist an extremely rare thing.  There was just no other competing idea to theism other than a sort of vague deism.  Darwin published On The Origin of the Species at the end of 1859 [2] paving the way for scientifically informed atheistic thought.

Maurice Ravel Complete Piano Works

Disc 1 -

Disc 2 -