7. Faure’s Requiem

Any recording of this just kills me. Faure’s writing feels incredibly contemporary to me, in the way the melodies and harmonies move. The ‘Paradisum’ has a quality about it that reminds me of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’, or maybe it should be the other way around.

I also sung this in my boys’ choir at school – I was a boy treble before my voice broke. Usually, I was more interested in the coach trips to concerts, the mucking about in the back row of the bus, as much as performing. But I remember us singing at Malvern Cathedral, surrounded by candles, and what a profoundly beautiful moment it was. Every now and then, odd moments from childhood just bounce back at you, and I’m always happy when it’s this one.