Simeon sings the Nunc dimittis ("Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace") when Jesus is presented in the temple (Luke 2:29–32).

Howells set the combination of Magnificat and Nunc dimittis 20 times,[1] taking the words from the Book of Common Prayer.

[3] While this meant that "climaxes are built more slowly", he said that it led to a "heightened volume of sound, and a tonal opulence commensurate with a vast church.

"[4] The composer's biographer, Christopher Palmer, described the St Paul's Service as being one of the three Howells canticle settings that "tower above the rest" – the others being his settings for King's College, Cambridge (Collegium Regale) and the Gloucester Service – where the music "burns through the words' patina of familiarity into a dramatic and purposeful entity", while reflecting their "constantly varying nuances and inflections".

[3] The service has been recorded several times,[5] including a 1988 collection The Music of St. Paul's Cathedral, performed by the cathedral choir conducted by John Scott with organist Christopher Dearnley,[6] and a 1997 overview of ten settings of Magnificat and Nunc dimittis by English composers, performed by the Choir of York Minster conducted by Philip Moore and with organist John Scott Whiteley.