Choral evensong is the Church of England’s sung evening service. The BBC first broadcast it live from Westminster Abbey on 7 October 1926, and a century later Radio 3 still carries it every week from cathedrals.
The service defined
Choral evensong is the evening service of prayer in the Anglican tradition, sung by a choir instead of being said. Its text comes mainly from the Book of Common Prayer, the Church of England’s historic service book. It is not a Mass or a communion service. It is a fixed pattern of psalms, Bible readings, canticles and prayers, much of it set to music.
The word “choral” matters. Evensong, also called Evening Prayer, can be said quietly by a priest and a few people. When a trained choir sings most of it, it becomes choral evensong. This is the form heard in English cathedrals, in many college chapels and on the radio.
A typical service runs for somewhere under an hour. Its main parts are:
- Preces and responses: short lines sung back and forth between an officiant or cantor and the choir.
- Psalms: the psalms set for that day, usually sung to Anglican chant, a simple harmonised formula repeated verse by verse.
- Two readings: one from the Old Testament and one from the New, read aloud.
- Two canticles: the Magnificat (the Song of Mary) and the Nunc dimittis (the Song of Simeon), sung after the first and second readings. They are the musical high points of the service.
- Creed, prayers and collects: some said, some sung.
- An anthem: a piece chosen by the choir, which may come from any period.
Hymns, a sermon and an organ voluntary at the end are often added, depending on the place and the day.
Origins in the Reformation
Evensong took shape during the English Reformation of the mid-sixteenth century. When the first English prayer books were compiled, the old Latin cycle of daily monastic services was cut down to two main daily offices in English: Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer. Evening Prayer drew on two of the old evening services. From vespers it took the Magnificat. From compline, the night office, it took the Nunc dimittis. Using English allowed ordinary worshippers to follow the words.
Cathedrals and collegiate churches kept professional or semi-professional choirs, so they went on singing these services every day. Over the following centuries composers wrote a large body of music for them. The Magnificat and Nunc dimittis are almost always set as a pair, known as the “Mag and Nunc” or an evening service. Many settings are named after the composer or the place they were written for. Tudor composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons wrote for the early English rite. Later figures such as Charles Villiers Stanford and Herbert Howells produced settings that are still sung widely.
Radio came much later. The Guardian reports that the first BBC broadcast of choral evensong was a live service from Westminster Abbey on 7 October 1926, when the corporation was in its infancy. BBC Radio 3 did not exist then, so the programme has passed through more than one BBC network on its way to its current home. This article does not trace that history in detail.
Evensong today
The Guardian reports that evensong is still broadcast on BBC Radio 3 every week, coming from cathedrals and other places of worship. The centenary fell on 7 October 2026. The Guardian marked it with an opinion piece by a member of parliament who sang as a chorister. The piece calls evensong a beautiful and empowering collective experience, argues that it should be praised and protected, and describes it as vibrant and thriving. Those are the writer’s views. The source gives no figures on audiences, attendance or funding, and none are offered here.
In practice, many English cathedrals sing evensong on most days of the week during term time, usually in the late afternoon. Anyone may attend, and there is normally no charge or ticket. Visitors sit in or near the choir stalls and can join in as much or as little as they like.
The choirs that sing it vary. The traditional cathedral choir has boy trebles on the top line and adult lay clerks or choral scholars on the lower parts. Many cathedrals now also have girls’ choirs, which often share the duty with the boys. There are adult mixed choirs and voluntary parish choirs too. Choristers usually combine singing with school, and a cathedral choir school is a distinct part of the system.
The repertoire keeps growing. Alongside the Tudor and Victorian standards, choirs sing twentieth-century settings and commission new works, so a week of broadcasts can cover several centuries of music.
Common misconceptions
It is a concert. It is not. Evensong is an act of worship with a set liturgy. The music serves the text, and there is no applause.
Only believers are welcome. Services are open to everyone, and many people come mainly for the music or the setting. No one is asked to profess faith or take part beyond listening.
Only boys sing it. All-male cathedral choirs are still common, but girls’ and mixed choirs are now part of the tradition in many places.
It belongs only to England. The form started in the Church of England, but versions are sung in Anglican churches elsewhere in the United Kingdom and around the world, and sometimes in other denominations.
The music is all old. Much of the core repertoire is historic, but new settings of the canticles and new anthems keep being written and sung.
Evensong and compline are the same thing. They are separate services. Compline is a shorter, later night office. Evensong borrowed one of its canticles but is a different service.
Where to listen and learn
The simplest starting point is the weekly broadcast on BBC Radio 3, which is also available through the BBC’s on-demand audio services. To hear evensong in person, cathedral websites usually post service times and say which choir is singing and what music is planned. The text of the service is in the Book of Common Prayer, which shows what is being sung. Organisations that support church music, such as the Royal School of Church Music, publish guides to the liturgy and its repertoire. Recordings by cathedral and collegiate choirs are a way to hear particular settings of the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis side by side.
Frequently asked questions
What is choral evensong?
Choral evensong is the evening service of the Church of England and the wider Anglican tradition, sung mostly by a choir. It follows a fixed order of preces and responses, psalms, two Bible readings, the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis canticles, prayers and an anthem. The text comes mainly from the Book of Common Prayer. It usually lasts somewhere under an hour and is held in many cathedrals on most weekdays.
When did the BBC first broadcast evensong?
According to the Guardian, the BBC first broadcast choral evensong on 7 October 1926, as a live service from Westminster Abbey. The corporation was very new at the time. The centenary of that first broadcast fell on 7 October 2026. Evensong is still broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 3, which means the programme has run across a full century of British radio.
Do you need to be religious to attend evensong?
No. Cathedral evensong is open to anyone, and many people come for the music, the building or a quiet hour at the end of the day. Visitors are not asked to profess any belief or join in the spoken or sung parts. Entry to the service is normally free, though some cathedrals charge separately for sightseeing at other times of day.
What is the difference between evensong and compline?
Evensong and compline are separate services. Compline is a short night office from the old monastic cycle, said or sung late in the evening. Evensong was created during the English Reformation by merging elements of vespers and compline into one evening service in English. It took the Nunc dimittis from compline, but it is longer and has a different structure.
Where can I listen to choral evensong?
BBC Radio 3 broadcasts choral evensong every week, live or recorded, from cathedrals and other places of worship, and episodes can usually be heard afterwards on the BBC’s on-demand audio services. Many English cathedrals also sing it in person on most days during term time. Their websites list service times and often the music to be sung.
Sources and further reading
- The Guardian: opinion piece marking the BBC evensong broadcast centenary, source for the 1926 date and current broadcast details
- BBC Radio 3: programme pages for the weekly choral evensong broadcast
- The Book of Common Prayer: the text and order of Evening Prayer
- Royal School of Church Music: guides to Anglican liturgy and choral repertoire
Surfaced from the rss:guardian_music signal “radio broadcast centenary”. AI-assisted draft, editorially reviewed.
