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The Office of Lauds

Introduced by Peter Phillips

The culmination of Radio 3鈥檚 鈥淐apturing Twilight鈥� season continues with the second of the eight services which make up the Canonical Hours, or Divine Office, which are being broadcast throughout the day. The Tallis Scholars, world renowned for their exquisitely pure tone and shimmering choral sounds, evoke this ancient Christian tradition, starting just as the clocks change back to Greenwich Mean Time at 1am. They sing settings of words and psalms associated with each of the eight offices, or Canonical Hours, a daily ritual laid down in the 6th Century by St Benedict, which remains familiar in monasteries and convents around the world today.

The Tallis Scholars director Peter Philips introduces each of the offices, having begun with Matins earlier this morning. Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None and Vespers follow, ending with Compline tonight, reflecting the time of the day with Latin chant interspersed with polyphony from across the centuries. Music across the day includes chant melodies by Hildegard of Bingen, settings of prayers, motets and canticles by Renaissance composers such as Thomas Tallis, Orlande de Lassus, John Sheppard and John Taverner, sitting alongside more recent works by Arvo P盲rt, John Tavener, and Igor Stravinksy.

Producer: Helen Garrison