Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

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.


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