[Intro — Adagio, piano solo, (pp)]
(Soft piano arpeggio; flute halo)
A single candle trembles—breath-held light.
Dust spins like tiny planets in the shaft of morning.
(woodwind answer: clarinet, piano rubato)
[Verse 1 — Adagio sostenuto, voice (p) with solo violin obbligato]
I came with folded words, with folded time,
A slow step across the marble, hush and rhyme.
A bow on silence; hear the string's first sigh.
(violin solo answers; arco, molto espressivo)
The rafters keep their dust—like measured years;
They keep the shape of small forgotten tears.
My voice finds spaces where the light will fall—
A mute confession waiting on the wall.
[Pre-Chorus — Andante, build (mp → mf), cello countermelody]
There is a tremor in the nearest pane,
A memory that won't let go of pain.
(soft cello enters, pizz. then arco)
I hold the candle: breath, then slow refrain.
[Chorus — Andante maestoso, full strings join, choir (m/f) enters softly]
Your echo fills the vaulted hall—hold out, hold long.
One bowed note hangs above the hours; the house keeps song.
I let the candle tremble—watch the shadow lean.
This single sound keeps all we were, and all between.
(chorus repeat on final stanza; sustain long notes — choir SATB)
[Verse 2 — Andante sostenuto, woodwinds prominent (mf)]
You left a folded letter in the back pew light,
Ink like a small constellation, edges blanched and bright.
Doors were closed in winter, voices kept in rooms—
We counted minutes like a clock that never moved.
A flute replies in trills, recalling how you smiled;
The cello speaks of distance measured by a mile.
Pizzicato footsteps trace the path you used to take;
A harp lets fall the sound of every small mistake.
[Pre-Chorus 2 — Crescendo to mf, strings tremolo]
I walk the aisle between the echoes and the dust,
Collecting notes like scattered coins of trust.
(viola solo answers; breath points after every line)
I press the page, the ink still warm beneath my thumb.
[Bridge — Moderato → Crescendo → Forte, orchestral surge, modulation up a half-step]
(Here: modulation upward; choir swells; timpani rolls)
Confession breaks: I name the thing I could not say.
I give the world this trembling voice — forgive its sway.
A chorus of the old regrets now answers me in rows;
The candle flares; the bowed note climbs; the unseen river flows.
(solo cello countermelody; choir interjects in echoing responses)
I will not hide the shard of night that sharpened everything.
I offer up the hollow place where light will learn to sing.
(Orchestral climactic point — full tutti, fortissimo)
[Final Chorus — Allegro maestoso, one half-step higher, full choir & strings]
Your echo fills the vaulted hall—hold out, hold long.
One bowed note hangs and will not fall; the night keeps song.
I keep the candle steady—watch the shadows bend and lean.
This single sound sustains the space where we have been.
(Choir sustains last line; horns and strings in unison)
(Repeat chorus as aria: voice extends final vowels on long suspension — fermata)
[Outro — Ri
