A Guide to Attending Choral Evensong for the First Time

What Choral Evensong Actually Is

Choral Evensong is one of the great gifts of the Church of England, and one of the few services in the world that has remained almost unchanged for centuries. It takes the ancient monastic offices of Vespers and Compline and combines them into a single, mostly sung service of around forty-five to sixty minutes. The words come from the Book of Common Prayer, first published in 1549 and revised in 1662, and the music is drawn from a repertoire that stretches from Thomas Tallis to living composers writing today.

You do not need to be a regular churchgoer to attend. You do not need to be a Christian, or even particularly religious. Evensong is offered as a public act of worship, and visitors are genuinely welcome. Many cathedrals and a good number of parish churches sing it several times a week, most often on weekday evenings and Sunday afternoons.

Arriving and Finding Your Seat

Turn up ten minutes early. This is not a service where slipping in late goes unnoticed; the opening organ voluntary often begins a few minutes before the hour, and the choir processes in at the appointed time. Stewards or sidespeople usually stand near the entrance and will hand you an order of service, sometimes called a service sheet or a booklet.

Take a seat anywhere in the nave or the stalls set aside for the congregation. Sit towards the middle or front if you want to hear the choir properly, especially if you are in a cathedral where the sound travels down the length of the building. If you have mobility needs, ask a steward; most cathedrals have step-free access and reserved seating.

Before the service begins, take a moment to read the service sheet. It will tell you what is being sung, who the composer is, and which parts are said by everyone together rather than sung by the choir.

The Shape of the Service

Evensong follows a fixed pattern. Knowing it in advance makes the whole thing far less puzzling.

• The opening responses — a short sung exchange between the officiating priest and the choir, often to music by a composer such as William Smith or Bernard Rose.
• The Psalms — usually one to three psalms, sung to Anglican chant, a form of harmonised melody where each verse of the psalm is sung to the same repeated phrase. You will hear the words clearly; follow along in the sheet if you wish.
• The First Lesson — a reading from the Old Testament, read by a member of the choir or a visiting reader.
• The Magnificat — the song of Mary from Luke's Gospel, sung by the choir as a set piece. This and the next item are the musical heart of the service, often settings by Stanford, Sumsion, Brewer, or Howells.
• The Second Lesson — a reading from the New Testament.
• The Nunc Dimittis — the song of Simeon, again sung by the choir to a choral setting.
• The Creed, prayers and collects — said or sung together. The Apostles' Creed is usually said standing.
• The anthem — an unaccompanied or accompanied choral piece, often on a scriptural text. This is frequently the highlight of the evening.
• The final prayers and blessing, followed by a closing organ voluntary as the choir leaves.

When to Stand, Sit and Kneel

The service sheet will tell you, and if in doubt, do what the people around you do. A rough guide:

• Stand for the opening responses, for the Gospel reading, for the Creed, and for the final prayers and blessing.
• Sit for the psalms, the Old Testament lesson, the anthem, and the sermon if there is one.
• Kneel or sit for the prayers after the Creed, unless the sheet says otherwise. Many churches simply sit.
• Remain seated during the organ voluntary at the end unless you need to leave. Listening is a form of participation.

Do not worry about getting it wrong. Nobody is watching, and the rhythm quickly becomes obvious. The one universal rule is to keep silence before and during the service; this is a contemplative act as much as a musical one.

The Choir, the Sound and What You Are Hearing

Cathedral choirs are usually made up of adult singers and boy or girl choristers, singing in four parts: trebles, altos, tenors and basses. They normally sing unaccompanied for the verses of the psalms and the canticles, with the organ supporting the full sections. The acoustic of a stone building does half the work, and the effect is a sound that seems to hang in the air a moment after the last chord.

Bell ringing often precedes Evensong. Many churches ring a peal or a quarter peal beforehand, and the sound of change ringing drifting over a town is one of the oldest sounds in the country. Some churches also use a handbell or a single bell to mark the start of the service. If you arrive early enough, you may hear the bells stop and the organ begin — a small ritual in itself that marks the transition from the street to the sacred.

Do stay for the voluntary if you can. Organists often save something substantial for the end, and the combination of a large building, a good instrument and a departing congregation is one of the quiet pleasures of British civic life.

A Few Practical Notes

• Entry is free at almost every cathedral and parish church, though a retiring collection is often taken. A donation of a few pounds is customary.
• Photography and recording are usually not permitted during the service. Check the notice at the door.
• Dress is relaxed; there is no need for anything formal.
• Children are welcome. A quiet child who is interested in the music will be far more welcome than you might fear.
• Do not feel you must stay for every part. If you need to leave, do so quietly between items.

Above all, give yourself permission to simply listen. Evensong is not a performance, and you are not an audience. You are part of a pattern of prayer and music that has been offered in these buildings for hundreds of years, and the door is open to you.