Evensong

Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles.

[1][2] From Late Antiquity onwards, the office of vespers normally included psalms, the Magnificat, a hymn, and other prayers.

By the sixteenth century, worshippers in western Europe conceived 'evensong' as vespers and compline performed without break.

[3] Modern Eastern Orthodox services advertised as 'vespers' often similarly conclude with compline, especially as part of the all-night vigil.

These range from late Renaissance composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, through Victorian composers such as Charles Villiers Stanford, Thomas Attwood Walmisley to later masters of the form such as Herbert Murrill, Basil Harwood, Herbert Howells, Michael Tippett, Giles Swayne, and Arvo Pärt (who composed a Magnificat and Nunc dimittis at different times).

The first of these may be called the Office Hymn, and will usually be particularly closely tied to the liturgical theme of the day, and may be an ancient plainchant setting.

Aside from the cathedrals and collegiate chapels, evensong is also sung in many parish 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 on feast days in the liturgical calendar.

Many churches in central London have a professional choir and have a weekly service of choral evensong, among them All Saints, Margaret Street, Holy Trinity Sloane Square, St Bartholomew the Great and St Bride's, Fleet Street.

[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.

Likewise in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, evensong is offered at the cathedrals in Auckland, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Wellington.