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 on of his wives. Because he had fallen out with the Roman Catholic Church, England became Protestant. New services were written by Archbishop Cranmer, in English, so that the people could understand them. Evensong was one of these. It comes from the Book of common Prayer, originally written in 1549. After that England went through phases or religious uncertainty, so the version used today comes from the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer².

Evensong was substituted by Archbishop Cranmer for two Catholic services; Vespers and Compline, It is usually sung³ at around 5:00pm. It lasts for around 45mins.

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 Magnificat⁵ and the Nunc Dimittis⁶. Occasionally Psalms 98, Cantate Domino is used in place of the Magnificat, and Psalm 67, Deus misereatur for the Nunc Dimittis, although this is rare, and is not possible 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 anthem, which is a piece of sacred music about three or four minutes in length, often based on a passage in the Bible or a prayer. The choir also sing the psalms⁷, 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 particularly 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 inclusde: Charles Villiers Stanford; 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.