Edward Lloyd

One hundred thousand Britishers gathered at the Crystal Palace, near London, in 1859 to honor the memory of Composer George Frederick Handel. An able tenor was to climax the music festival. The audience waited; he did not appear. Suddenly, a voice, clearer and purer than any they had ever heard, swelled through Crystal Palace. They saw a choir boy of 14, Edward Lloyd.

When Edward Lloyd left the church choir, where he had sung with Arthur Sullivan (later famed as the composer of the light opera team of Gilbert & Sullivan), to appear in concerts, a cleric warned him of choosing between God and Mammon. "I prefer Mammon to your narrow-minded religion," said young Mr. Lloyd as he set out to charm all England.

Seventeen years ago, at the coronation of King-Emperor George V, England heard his voice for the last time. Last week, aged 82, he died. Critics said that "the purest tenor" had passed.