George Lloyd’s Requiem is dedicated to the memory of Princess Diana‚ and it is presumably on this account that it opens with what I take to be a reference to the spiritual‚ Amazing Grace. Written at the very end of his life‚ the work was published only months before the composer’s death in July 1998: it is not‚ however‚ either morbid or sentimental. If one looks for affinities‚ they are to be found at least as much with Fauré as with his beloved Verdi. The mood is contemplative and affectionate but exceeds these limits to include a vigorous ‘Dies irae’‚ a lively Sanctus and a colourful ‘Osanna’. The choral writing is characteristically good for singing‚ with broad Italianate melodic lines which could do with a more liberal infusion of polyphony but gains a less expected strength through an element of quasi­medieval organum. A remarkable feature and a particular distinction of this first recording is the soloist’s part‚ sung here by the excellent Stephen Wallace. He is a countertenor of an unusual kind and the voice is not only lovely in itself but suits the writing ideally well. The booklet tells that the Requiem was in fact written with the Exon Singers and their conductor Matthew Owens in mind: certainly they give a fine account of it. The organist’s part also develops in interest‚ Jeffrey Makinson taking full advantage of the opportunities. The coupling with Psalm 130 (‘De profundis’) dates from 1990‚ making an apt companion­piece with its development from the pessimism of its opening to the affirmative ending of ‘in His word do I hope’.