St. James’ Church Music Ministry

What is Choral Evensong?

Based on the services held everyday in the medieval Church, Choral Evensong as arranged in the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Church has been sung regularly for many centuries. The order of service for Evensong at St. James’ Church comes from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, whereas regular Sunday morning worship comes from the current 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

Evensong is part of the Daily Office, a rotation of lessons from Scripture and selections from the Psalter. These are woven between different prayers and canticles, or songs of praise taken from biblical texts other than the Psalter. The Daily Office is said twice a day: Morning Prayer (or Matins when sung), and Evening Prayer (or Evensong when sung). If you participate in the daily office everyday, you will see that scriptures usually begin from where those from the previous day’s end.

Similar to the structure of Morning Prayer, the office of Evensong is composed of canticles, psalms and prayers, mainly sung by the choir and priest. The basic structure of Choral Evensong is as follows:

Organ Voluntary The Introit, sung by the choir immediately after the procession OR an Opening Hymn sung by all during the procession The Responses, sung by the Officiant (Priest) and the choir A Psalm or Psalms appointed for the day, sung by the choir The First Lesson appointed for the day, read by a lector A setting of the Magnificat (The Song of Mary) sung by the choir The Second Lesson appointed for the day, read by a lector A setting of the Nunc dimittis (The Song of Simeon) sung by the choir The Apostle's Creed, chanted in unison by all Prayers sung by the Officiant and the choir The Evening Collects, chanted by the Officiant Greetings/Homily by a priest, directed to all An Anthem appropriate for the day, sung by the choir. A Prayer(s) said by the Officiant. A Hymn sung by all during the retiring procession OR during Lent, Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament