Compline

Compline (/ˈkɒmplɪn/ KOM-plin; also Complin, Night Prayer, Prayers at the End of the Day) is the final church service (or office) of the day in the Christian tradition of canonical hours. The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day. The word was first used in this sense about the beginning of the 6th century by St. Benedict in his Rule (Regula Benedicti; hereafter, RB), in Chapters 16, 17, 18, and 42, and he even uses the verb complere to signify Compline: "Omnes ergo in unum positi compleant" ("All having assembled in one place, let them say Compline"); "et exuentes a completorio" ("and, after going out from Compline...") (RB, Chap. 42).

Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and certain other Christian denominations with liturgical traditions prescribe Compline services. Compline tends to be a contemplative Office that emphasizes spiritual peace. In many monasteries it is the custom to begin the "Great Silence" after Compline, during which the whole community, including guests, observes silence throughout the night until the morning service the next day.

Compline (disambiguation)

Compline (from the Latin completorium for "completion") may refer to:

Compline (composition)

Compline is a septet for flute, clarinet, harp, and string quartet by the American composer Christopher Rouse. The work was commissioned by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center through an award from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation. It was first performed by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on December 6, 1996 at Alice Tully Hall in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The piece is dedicated to the memory of Natalie and Serge Koussevitzky.

Composition

Compline is composed in four connected sections and has a duration of roughly 16 minutes. It is scored for the same instrumentation as Maurice Ravel's Introduction and Allegro.

Style and inspiration

Rouse described the title and inspiration for Compline in the score program notes, writing:

He added, "Unlike the majority of other works I composed in the half dozen years before it, Compline does not concern itself with death but rather with light. In this it perhaps augurs a change in my musical outlook."