What is Evensong?
The Anglican tradition of Choral Evensong is an almost completely sung afternoon or early evening worship service in the Anglican choral tradition. Its roots date back to the early Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Jewish evening worship.
Communal prayers at specified hours of the day have always been a part of the Judaeo-Christian tradition. In the monastic practices of the Western church, the community gathered nine times in a 24-hour period for prayer:
- Vespers (at the end of the day)
- Compline (upon retiring)
- Vigils (sometime during the night)
- Matins (at sunrise)
- Prime (during the first hour of daylight)
- Terce (at the third hour)
- Sext (at the sixth hour)
- None (at the ninth hour)
- Vespers (at the end of the day)
During the English Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) combined elements of the offices of Vespers and Compline to create the Office of Evening Prayer. When the service of Evening Prayer was sung through by a choir and officiating celebrant (priest or laeity), it was called Evensong.
In addition to chanted prayers and sung Preces & Responses, Psalms, and hymns, the musical highlights of a service of Evensong are the Canticles. These are choral settings of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimitis, each sung after a spoken lesson. Additionally, a choral anthem appropriate to the liturgical year is sung following the Responses (after the 3rd collect).
Evensong choral music may be accompanied (usually by organ) or sung a cappella. If you have never attended a service of Evensong, you owe it to yourself to experience one of the most beautiful and moving of all the Anglican worship services.
More detailed information about Evensong, its history, and how it is practised around the world, can be found in this Wikipedia article.