# Event Details

- **Event Name**: At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide
- **Event Start and End Date**: Sat, 17 Oct, 2026 at 07:30 pm (+01:00)
- **Event Description**: Music by Sheppard, Mundy, Byrd, Purcell, Rheinberger, Wood, Gardiner, Barber, Dove, Whitacre, Ešenvalds...

As evening falls and you take stock of the day, what is your remedy for winding down and for warding off the shapeshifting terrors of our times? Which way do you turn for reassurance? With exquisite timing, Portsmouth Baroque Choir presents a programme of musical musings from the Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic and contemporary eras, all focused on that liminal moment as the glare of the sun gives way to the glimmer of distant stars.

The programme is framed by two timeless Renaissance masterpieces: Sheppard’s Libera nos, about which a prominent musician recently posted on X “when it comes on shuffle you just weep for the beauty that is in the world, and for those that would attempt to destroy it”; and Wilbye’s iconic madrigal Draw on, sweet night - its enfolding musical shapes evoking the black bile of melancholy that also inspires, a theme that pervades the music of Wilbye’s close associate, John Dowland, whose 400th anniversary is celebrated this year.

The Renaissance eventide selection also incudes Byrd, Phillips, White and Blitheman, dutifully crafted treatments of the ‘abide with me’ theme for use at Compline - Withhold from us our ghostly foe,/ That spot of sin we may not know, lines from the nocturnal hymn Te lucis ante terminum that continued to inspire composers down to our own times, two of the most famous examples being Rheinberger’s Abendlied, written when he was just sixteen, and Balfour Gardiner’s Evening Hymn from 1908.

Gardiner’s contemporary, Charles Wood, looped back even further in Hail, gladdening light to an ancient Greek  lamp-lighting tradition. This year marks the centenary of Wood’s death and we also include his evening canticle, Nunc Dimittis in B flat, written for and first performed at Westminster Cathedral in 1916.

The intervening Romantics drew inspiration from Nature rather than the Word. Schubert’s Die Nacht sets a whispered, lyric poem extolling the beauty of night’s heavenly calm, while Sullivan in The long day closes goes to a dreamless bed courtesy of Henry Fothergill Chorley’s decorous expression of Victorian-style grief. Barber keeps faith with enduring values in Sure on this shining night.

And so to our own times, concerned with sleep patterns and cosmic disorder. Fashionable Eric Whitacre tackles insomnia, measured breathing overcoming the thousand pictures filling his bedtime head. Inspired by starlight, Jonathan Dove seeks and celebrates, to a twinkling organ accompaniment, the seven stars of Orion a powerful representation of darkness shining as the day, while in Stars (2011), Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds employs tuned wine glasses and Tibetan bells as a glistening accompaniment to his vision of ‘beating hearts of fire’ seen overhead on a still, dark night.

May you have a good evening! At the end of the day, whether you’re a watcher of the night sky, say your bedtime prayers or just switch off, you’ll find the overall mood of this programme inspiring as well as quietly reassuring. 

Better that endless notes beseech/ as many nights, as many dawns,/ If finally God grants the wish.
Eric Larkin 'Compline'

Programme

Sheppard - Libera nos I and II; In manus tuas I
Blitheman In pace
Byrd Christe qui lux es et dies
Purcell An evening hymn (soloist Chris Clark)
Mundy O Lord, the maker of all thing
Charles Wood Nunc Dimittis in B flat
Philips Salve Regina à 8
Balfour Gardiner Evening hymn
Hymn All through the night

Interval

Dove Seek him that maketh the seven stars
Wood Hail, gladdening light
Ešenvalds Stars
Barber Sure on this shining night
Rheinberger Abendlied
Handel O sleep, why dost thou leave me? (soloist Sarah Baker)
Dowland Come, heavy sleep (soloist Malcolm Keeler)
Schubert Die Nacht op.17 no.4 
Sullivan The long day closes
Whitacre Sleep
Wilbye Draw on sweet night.
- **Event URL**: https://allevents.in/fareham/at-the-close-of-the-day-music-for-compline-and-eventide/200030824147747
- **Event Categories**: music, entertainment, live-music, nonprofit
- **Interested Audience**: 
  - total_interested_count: 7

## Ticket Details


## Event venue details

- **city**: Fareham
- **state**: EN
- **country**: United Kingdom
- **location**: Fareham United Reformed Church
- **lat**: 50.8541948
- **long**: -1.1824313
- **full address**: Fareham United Reformed Church, 21 Osborn Road South, Fareham, PO16 7DF, United Kingdom

## Event gallery

- **Alt text**: At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide
  - **Image URL**: https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events6/banners/1d6714e6496a6278881f393f4ec1c5ddbb230030c1285d7cc6621a64993ccf67-rimg-w1200-h846-dcc8b8a8-gmir?v=1791785148

## FAQs

- **Q**: When and where is At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide being held?
  - **A:** At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide takes place on Sat, 17 Oct, 2026 at 07:30 pm to Sat, 17 Oct, 2026 at 07:30 pm at Fareham United Reformed Church, 21 Osborn Road South, Fareham, PO16 7DF, United Kingdom.
- **Q**: Who is organizing At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide?
  - **A:** At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide is organized by Portsmouth Baroque Choir.
- **Q**: Who is this event for? Is it right for me?
  - **A:** At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide is ideal for music lovers, fans of all genres, and anyone who wants to celebrate the power of music - from intimate gigs and live sessions to festivals and cultural performances. Whether you're a first-time attendee or a longtime enthusiast in Fareham, this event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a standout experience worth every moment. If At the close of the day: music for compline and eventide sounds like your kind of event, don't wait - spots fill up fast.

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