Service (music) facts for kids

A Service in Anglican church music is a special piece of music. It's sung by a choir during a church worship time. The music uses words that are a traditional part of the service. Usually, an organ plays along with the choir. Sometimes, the choir sings without any instruments at all.

What Music is Sung in a Service?

The specific words sung in a Service depend on which part of the church worship it is. Composers write music for these special words.

Morning Prayer Music

For Morning Prayer, the choir sings music for these words:

• The Venite (which is Psalm 95).
• The Te Deum.
• The Jubilate (Psalm 100) or the Benedictus.

Holy Communion Music

During Holy Communion, the choir usually sings music for these parts:

• The Gloria.
• Sometimes the Creed.
• The Sanctus.
• The Agnus Dei.
• Other short responses.

Evening Prayer Music

For Evening Prayer, the choir sings music for two main parts:

• The Magnificat.
• The Nunc Dimittis.

Choir singers often call these two pieces "Mag and Nunc" for short. Many composers have created beautiful music for these words. They are often like an anthem, which is a special song for the choir.

Types of Services Long Ago

In the old days, during the Tudor and early Stuart times, church music services had different names. They were called "Short," "Great," or "Verse" services.

Short Services

A Short service was, as the name suggests, quite short! The choir would sing the words only once. Often, there was no organ playing along; the choir sang without any instruments.

Great Services

A Great service was much longer. In these services, some of the words were sung many times over. A famous composer named William Byrd wrote a very well-known Great Service.

Verse Services

A Verse service was also long. It included several "verses" that were sung by a solo choir member. This means one person sang alone. In between each solo verse, the whole choir would sing together.