Evensong is an office¹ of the Anglican church. It is supposed to be sung every evening as thanks to God for the day and a prayer for protection during the coming night. Evensong has an equivalent morning service called Matins.

Henry VIII became head of the Church of England around 1534 as a result of not being allowed by the Pope to divorce Catherine of Aragon. Because he had fallen out with the Roman Catholic Church, England became Protestant. New services were written by Archbishop Cranmer: in English rather than Latin, so that the people could understand them. Evensong was one such service, first published in the Book of Common Prayer of 1549. After that, England went through phases of religious uncertainty, so the version used today comes from the 1662 edition².

Evensong was substituted by Archbishop Cranmer for two Catholic services: Vespers and Compline. It is usually sung³ at around 5.00pm, and lasts for around 45 minutes.

Evensong consists of Bible readings, psalms, prayers and two canticles⁴. There is a Bible reading from both the old and new testaments. At Evensong, the canticles are the 'Magnificat'⁵ and the 'Nunc Dimittis'⁶. Occasionally Psalm 98, 'Cantate Domino', is used in place of the 'Magnificat'; and Psalm 67, 'Deus Misereatur', for the 'Nunc Dimittis': however, this is rare, and is not permitted on the days when these psalms would be sung during the normal course of the service.

The choir sing some of the prayers, called the responses, both the canticles, and also an anthem⁷. The choir also sing the psalms⁸, usually in a style called Anglican Chant. Evensong is in English, but on occasion the anthem may be in Latin.

There are many different settings for the music at Evensong. These have been written predominantly by English composers, as Evensong is an Anglican service. At Evensong, the responses are always set by a different composer to the Magnificat and Nunc Dimmitis. Noteable composers of music for evensong include Charles Villiers Stanford and Herbert Howells.

Evensong as a service is declining in popularity, and is rarely sung every day except at cathedrals. This is a shame because lots of beautiful music has been written for use at the service, and it is a tradition dating back 450 years in the Church of England.

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¹ The correct technical name for a service.
² More recent versions have been written, but the traditional 1662 version is still the most widely used.
³ Sometimes, instead of Evensong, there is a service of Evening Prayer. This has the same structure as Evensong except that it is spoken rather than sung, and there is no anthem.
⁴ A canticle is a liturgical song, taken from the Bible. Different canticles are associated with different services.
⁵ The 'Song of Mary' from Luke, chapter 1, verse 46.
⁶ The 'Song of Simeon' from Luke, chapter 2, verse 29.
⁷ A piece of sacred music about three or four minutes in length, often based on a passage in the Bible or a prayer.
⁸ In matins and evensong combined, all 150 psalms can be used in the course of a month.