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Evensong is achurch service traditionally held neartwilight focused on singingpsalms and other biblicalcanticles. It is loosely based on thecanonical hours ofvespers andcompline.Old English speakers translated the Latin wordvesperas asæfensang, which became 'evensong' in modern English. Typically used in reference to theAnglican daily office's eveningliturgy, it can also refer to the pre-Reformation form of vespers or services of evening prayer from other denominations, particularly within theAnglican Use of theCatholic Church.[1][2]
FromLate Antiquity onwards, the office of vespers normally included psalms, theMagnificat, a hymn, and other prayers. By theEarly Middle Ages, it became common forsecular clergy to combine vespers and compline. By the sixteenth century, worshippers in western Europe conceived 'evensong' as vespers and compline performed without break.[3] ModernEastern Orthodox services advertised as 'vespers' often similarly conclude with compline, especially as part of theall-night vigil.[4]
When theEnglish reformation produced theBook of Common Prayer, it provided a version of evensong that abbreviated the secular version of vespers and compline, drawing on theUse of Sarum.[5] Nearly all its elements are taken from medieval service books, with only minor changes to the order in which they appear.
Evensong was initially sung entirely toplainsong. Musicians gradually createdpolyphonic settings of its music, especially of theMagnificat.[6]
The first musical setting of theBook of Common Prayer, byJohn Marbeck, provided a simplified version of traditional chant settings.[7] It remains unclear whether plainsong remained a common feature of evensong in the Church of England after the sixteenth century.[8]Metrical psalms andAnglican Chant were also developed as alternate methods of singing the psalms and canticles.
In choral evensong, all of the service is sung or chanted by the officiating minister and a choir. In cathedrals, or on particularly important days in the church calendar, the canticles are performed in elaborate settings. In churches where a choir is not present, simpler versions of the psalms and canticles are usually sung by the congregation, sometimes with responses and collects spoken rather than sung. Said evening prayer services with the musical setting omitted are also sometimes referred to as evensong.[9]
A number of composers have contributed settings of the canticles. These range from lateRenaissance composers such asThomas Tallis,William Byrd andOrlando Gibbons, through Victorian composers such asCharles Villiers Stanford,Thomas Attwood Walmisley to later masters of the form such asHerbert Murrill,Basil Harwood,Herbert Howells,Michael Tippett,Giles Swayne, andArvo Pärt (who composed aMagnificat andNunc dimittis at different times).
InHigh Church parishes, the service may conclude withBenediction of the Blessed Sacrament (or a modified form of "Devotions to the Blessed Sacrament") and the carrying of the reserved sacrament under a humeral veil from the high altar to analtar of repose, to the accompaniment of music.
The service may also include hymns. The first of these may be called the Office Hymn, and will usually be particularly closely tied to theliturgical theme of the day, and may be an ancient plainchant setting. This will usually be sung just before the psalm(s) or immediately before the first canticle and may be sung by the choir alone. Otherwise any hymns normally come toward the end of the service, maybe one either side of the sermon (if there is one), or following the anthem. These hymns will generally be congregational.
Mostcathedrals of the Church of England, where the service originates, and a number of university collegechapels (e.g. in theUniversity of Cambridge, theUniversity of Oxford, theUniversity of St Andrews, theUniversity of Durham andKing's College London)[10] offer evensong regularly, often daily. Most of the cathedrals of theChurch in Wales and theScottish Episcopal Church also offer choral evensong. Choral evensong is usually sung during term time; at other times, it is often sung by a voluntary or visiting choir, or replaced with said Evening Prayer.
Aside from the cathedrals and collegiate chapels, evensong is also sung in manyparish churches around England where there is a choral tradition. There may be a choral service each Sunday or less frequently, such as on a monthly basis or only onfeast days in the liturgical calendar. Manychurches in central London have a professional choir and have a weekly service of choral evensong, among themAll Saints, Margaret Street,Holy Trinity Sloane Square,St Bartholomew the Great andSt Bride's, Fleet Street.[11]
Most of the larger churches andcathedrals of the Church of Ireland offer evensong. It is sung six times a week atSt Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, twice atChrist Church Cathedral, Dublin, and once atTrinity College, Dublin. Additionally, although rarely, some parish churches hold evensong; however, this is most often replaced with Evening Prayer.
Most of the larger cathedrals and large parishes of theEpiscopal Church and theAnglican Church of Canada offer choral evensong.[12] During the school year,Washington National Cathedral offers Evensong not only on Sunday afternoon, but also from Monday to Thursday, with the Girl Choristers and the Boy Choristers alternating.[13]Saint Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue in New York City offers Evensong from Tuesday to Thursday during the school year, in addition to Sundays.[14]
Evensong is also often offered at Episcopal seminaries as part of a chapel program. For example,General Theological Seminary currently offers Evensong.
Throughout the countries of Africa with a large Anglican presence, evensong is also offered, for instance in theCathedral Church of Christ, Lagos, Nigeria,St George's Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa, and every Sunday at theSt Cyprian's Cathedral, Kimberley, South Africa.
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Most of the cathedrals of theAnglican Church of Australia offer choral evensong at least weekly, withSt Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne offering daily evensong. Likewise in theAnglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, evensong is offered at the cathedrals inAuckland,Nelson,Christchurch,Dunedin, andWellington.
The popularity of evensong has spread to other churches, particularly churches of thePresbyterian Church (USA) andUnited Methodist churches which use a formal liturgical worship style. Examples in the Presbyterian Church includeFourth Presbyterian Church (Chicago) andIndependent Presbyterian Church (Birmingham, Alabama) both of which offer evensong services on a seasonal basis, as does Peachtree Road United Methodist Church[15] in Atlanta, Georgia.
There are some Roman Catholic churches and abbeys in England offering choral evensong: These includeAmpleforth Abbey,Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, theBirmingham Oratory,Ealing Abbey,Leeds Cathedral,Downside Abbey, theLondon Oratory, andWestminster Cathedral.[16]
Loyola University Maryland, a Jesuit Catholic university in Baltimore, Maryland, celebrates a half-hour evensong on Thursday evenings, although this has been temporarily suspended.[as of?]
In Scotland, some larger churches (and former cathedrals belonging to the Church of Scotland) hold evensong, includingGlasgow Cathedral,Paisley Abbey (2nd Sunday of each month), andEdinburgh Cathedral.
TheBasilica of St. Nicholas inAmsterdam holds choral evensong on Saturdays.[citation needed]
TheBBC has, since 1926, broadcast a weekly service of Choral Evensong. It is broadcast (usually live) onBBC Radio 3 on Wednesdays at 15:30 and is repeated the following Sunday. Between February 2007 and September 2008, the service was broadcast on Sunday only. The service comes live from an English cathedral or collegiate institution. It is occasionally, however, a recording or is replaced by a different form of service or a service from a church elsewhere in the world or of another denomination. The most recent broadcast is available on theBBC iPlayer for up to a week after the original broadcast. There is also an archive available.[17]
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