What is Compline?

Did you see our choirs online?

I want to take one more opportunity to tell the parish about a great choral service our choirs have put online. You can see our Saint Nicholas Choir (youths) and Schola Cantorum (adults) sing Compline!

What is Compline, you might ask? Compline is the last evening service in the monastic round of daily prayer services--also known as the “Canonical Hours”. These services have been the bread and butter of monastic life since the Middle Ages, and they are an attempt by religious communities to take the psalmist’s intention to pray “seven times a day” quite literally. Thus, we see seven daytime offices:

Lauds (dawn)

Prime (early morning)

Terce (9:00am)

Sext (noon)

Nones (3:00pm)

Vespers (sunset)

Compline (end of the day)

And two possible nighttime offices:

Vigil (2:00am)

Matins (between 3:00am and sunrise)

These offices could vary according to local custom, but the general pattern holds true. Compline is that set of prayers monastics would pray before retiring for the day. If we take elements from both the Benedictine form and elements from the Roman Breviary, Compline involved several psalms, antiphons, a hymn, a lesson, the Kyrie eleison (“Lord, have mercy upon us”), a responsory (‘Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit), the Nunc Dimittis (the Song of Simeon) an anthem, and a benediction.

A fun fact for us Episcopalians is that when Thomas Cranmer compiled the Book of Common Prayer, he composed Evening Prayer (or “Evensong” as we call it) with elements from two evening offices: Vespers (with its Magnificat canticle) and Compline (with its Nunc Dimittis). Our favorite English service is a mashup of two medieval services!

So, now you know about Compline. The other twist, of course, is that our choirs sang Slavonic pieces for the hymn, the anthem, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Song of Simeon. Mashup + Innovation = Good Times at Compline!

We’re extremely chuffed to share this unique service with you all, and we hope it gives you a good picture of the work our youth choristers do on a regular basis! These services--including monthly Choral Evensong--culminate in our triennial UK Residency, which is at Wells Cathedral in July 2022. Please consider donating to the UK Residency Fund to support the work of these choirs. You can do so by check (put “UK Residency” in the memo line) or by credit card at the church’s online portal (https://stphilipstucson.breezechms.com/give/online). 

Thank you for any way you can support this important work!

Compline, July 16, Saint Nicholas Choir & Schola Cantorum (https://youtu.be/UY9zp2kenHw)

 Dr Justin Appel, Director of Music