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Gezongen Vesper door de Martinus Cantorij

27 September 2026
- 17:00

Something special is unfolding in the Netherlands. Just like Bach’s St Matthew Passion, a classical Evensong attracts many people who do not belong to the regular churchgoers. In numerous places, people enjoy coming to listen to such a short (50-minute) sung service. Apparently, there is something in the combination of high-quality music and the meditative depth of such a sung evening prayer that appeals to people today. A Choral Evensong has a fixed order in which a number of texts recur in every evensong, such as the Magnificat (the Song of Mary) and the Nunc dimittis (the Song of Simeon). In addition, there are varying psalms for each day of the month that are sung in that typically English manner. Active involvement of the congregation is also essential. Therefore, there are always one or two songs (Hymns) that those present can sing along to.

Evensong originated nearly 500 years ago when the English King Henry VIII founded the Anglican Church in 1534 following a heated conflict with the Pope in Rome. A new liturgy was developed with an emphasis on the vernacular language rather than Latin. This included combining parts of the renounced Catholic Vespers and Compline into a new service: the Choral Evensong.