Edward Lloyd (tenor)

Edward Lloyd (7 March 1845 – 31 March 1927) was a British tenor singer who excelled in concert and oratorio performance, and was recognised as a legitimate successor of John Sims Reeves as the foremost tenor exponent of that genre during the last quarter of the nineteenth century.

Edward Lloyd was born in London, into a musical family. His father had, by invitation, assisted as a counter-tenor on 'Show Sundays' at Worthing when choral concerts were directed by the fourteen-year-old Sims Reeves. Young Lloyd began singing as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, and in 1866 became a member of both Trinity College and King's College chapels in the University of Cambridge. In 1869 he joined the choir of St Andrew's, Wells Street (under Barnby) and was engaged for the Chapel Royal in 1869–71. In 1871 he sang in the St Matthew Passion at the Gloucester Festival, and came prominently to public attention. He never sang in the theatre, possibly because he was short of stature (Charles Santley heard him described as 'a nice, plump little gentleman.'). In 1873 he made his first appearance at St James' Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Society. In the year of his retirement in 1900, he became the Gold Medallist of that Society.

Herman Klein, who heard Lloyd early in his career, was surpassingly impressed by his voice and delivery. He called its quality 'most exquisite', with an amazingly smooth legato, comparable to the great tenor Antonio Giuglini. "Edward Lloyd's is one of those pure, natural voices that never lose their sweetness, but preserve their charm so long as there are breath and power to sustain them. His method is, to my thinking, irreproachable and his style absolutely inimitable. His versatility was greater than that of Sims Reeves, though he was never a stage tenor; for he was equally at home in music of every period and of every school. In Bach and Handel, in modern oratorio, in the Italian aria, in Lied, romance or ballad, he was equally capable of arousing genuine admiration." His performance of 'Love in her eyes sits playing' (Handel, Acis and Galatea) he called 'absolutely unsurpassable', and greater than any Handelian singing heard thereafter. This extremely high praise came from a most discerning critic. David Bispham considered him the foremost tenor of the concert platform.

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