The composer did not set all the movements of the liturgical Requiem Mass, omitting those describing the more punitive aspects of the afterlife. In Paradisum is, however, the traditional final movement which promises eternal rest to the soul of the departed. Hubert Parry's unaccompanied Songs of Farewell were composed, at the end of his life, during the First World War. My soul, there is a country is probably the best known of the Songs of Farewell and shows strong affinity with the text, together with an opulence and grandeur which characterised the age. The souls of the righteous by James Nares treats the same theme as Parry but this time with a biblical text and in the form of an eighteenth century verse anthem, in which two soprano soloists begin by weaving intricate contrapuntal lines over a simple organ accompaniment.
Further variety is achieved with a short solo movement, a recitative and concluding chorus.
Nares held appointments as organist of York Minster and at the Chapel Royal and was one of the first composers to give singers specific advice on performance. Elizabeth Poston's musical career was unusually varied. For a time she lived in the house which was the scene of E M Forster's novel Howard's End and composed the music for the eponymous film score in 1970. Brahms's setting of the Requiem was in German and, like that of Faur , emphasises the hope of resurrection rather than the fear of divine punishment. The texts of its seven movements were chosen from the bible by Brahms himself and the fourth movement, How lovely are thy dwellings fair , is a setting of part of Psalm 84.