Can Radio 3 Choral Evensong broadcasts be considered liturgical reconstructions?

[jean]

"Reconstruction" is more properly a term used for reconstructing a particular performance of, say, Handel's Messiah. E.g. the first Dublin performance, or the first London performance.

I don't entirely agree; many of the 'reconstructions' referred to earlier have been of conjectural performances which could have taken place on particular feast days at particular times in the past, as MC says:

Most liturgical reconstructions...attempt to reconstruct a particular historical event, or a specific feast in the liturgical year, as it might have been performed in the year X....

A religious service can never really be a reconstruction, even when the music is identical.

Depends on which way round you think of it.

You might decide to reconstruct a particular performance, actual or hypothetical, and if you had a tame priest at your disposal, you might invite hiim [sic] along to officiate. And if you decided for your broadcast of Evensong to use only the music that was (possibly) sung on a particular feast day on a particular occasion in the past, then you might call your efforts a reconstruction, even if it was a service too.

I think the intention of whoever devised the project is crucial - but the motivation of the listener is neither here nor there.