Choral Evensong sung by the Young Choristers
Saturday, May 10, 5.00 p.m.
Join CCC's Young Choristers as they being this centuries-old tradition to St Andrew's Church, Sidney, 9686 Third Street, Sidney, BC
Choral Evensong: An Anglican Gem
St Andrew's, Sidney parishioner Gary Davies reflects on the history of this meditative service
Although they live in 165 countries and speak 2000 languages, the world’s 85 million Anglicans have, for the past 475 years, shared the same book of worship, The Book of Common Prayer (BCP).
For centuries prior to the publication of the first BCP in 1549, worship took place all through the night and day. One wonders if the monks and nuns ever got any sleep! Common folk could not follow the services as they were conducted in Latin. As well, they likely didn’t have the time or inclination to attend nine services a day, starting soon after midnight and occurring roughly every hour or two thereafter.
The English Reformation in the 16th century changed all that. Among the many efforts launched during the Reformation was the work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, who authored a more streamlined form of worship in English, a process which involved great debates within the church of the day. Among the improvements to worship was combining the nine ancient monastic services into what Anglicans know nowadays as Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer.
Soon after the publication of the BCP, composers of the day began to write music for the new prayer book services. One of the earliest contributors was John Merbecke (1510?-1585?), some of whose music still appears in the Canadian Anglican hymn book.
The BCP combined two of the ancient monastic services, Vespers and Compline, into Evening Prayer. The old Compline service is still included separately in the BCP. Evening Prayer is usually called Choral Evensong when music is used. Over the centuries, countless settings of Evensong’s two main canticles (songs), the Magnificat (Song of Mary) and the Nunc Dimittis (Song of Simeon), have been written. Music is definitely a key part of Evensong, but not its only important feature. The spoken parts - prayers, Bible readings and sometimes a sermon - are also important and, together with the music, give congregations time for reflection and meditation.
Over the years newer prayer books with more modern language, such as Canada’s Book of Alternative Services, have emerged throughout the worldwide Anglican Church. However, the language of the BCP, so rich, eloquent and flowing, sets it apart from our everyday language. In her book “And Then There Were Nuns” (2013) Jane Christmas characterizes the BCP’s elegant language as soulful, intimate, beautiful and comforting.
Canon Herbert O’Driscoll, who died in 2024 and had been long associated with Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral, in his 1981 book “Portrait of a Woman”, likened Evensong to a jewel. Ansley Tucker, the Cathedral’s former dean, said “the familiar words and beautiful music are a healing tonic to those who simply wish to sit in the presence of the holy”.
Evensong’s Magnificat is the joyful song Mary sang upon learning that she would soon give birth to Jesus. By contrast, the words of the Nunc Dimittis are those uttered by Simeon, near the end of his life, upon seeing Jesus, knowing that he could now rest in peace.
This old and beautiful service is sung around the world in many cathedrals, especially in England, on a daily basis and in parish churches on a less frequent schedule. There are so many in the UK on any given day that a website exists to help find services: choralevensong.org.
Choral Evensong, with its inspiring, ethereal music, can provide a peaceful, restful end to the day or to a week which may have been fraught with issues.