Mercies At Dawn

Lamentations 3:22-23 (KJV) "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." [Intro] (solo female monastic soprano, single sustained Latin vowels, cello drone on D, distant hand bell, vast stone-cathedral reverb, no percussion) Mi-se-ri-cor-di-a... Mi-se-ri-cor-di-a... [Verse 1] [Close-mic, free chant-flowing meter, Spanish lead, cello drone underneath] Toda la noche velaba en la piedra, La lámpara apagada, el cielo en silencio, Conté las horas — conté mis lágrimas — Y el alba, el alba viene otra vez. [Proto-Refrain] [Single voice, no choir yet] New, new every morning — The mercies wake before the light. [Verse 2] [Bilingual call-and-response — lead in Spanish, choir answers in English in sustained organum at the fifth] Lead — Su misericordia no se acaba — Choir — His mercies have not failed. Lead — Su compasión es nueva cada día — Choir — His compassion does not break. [Proto-Refrain] New, new every morning — The mercies wake before the light. [Bridge] [Choir falls away entirely; cello drone alone; whispered Latin chant underneath the lead] [Tactile zoom + prayer] The cold sill against the palm, The wick that smoked and went to ash — Tu fidelidad, oh Dios, oh Dios — The hour I almost did not last. [Full Chorus] [FIRST APPEARANCE — full Sunday Service-style mixed gospel choir blooms into four-part harmony, sustained organum opens into chord movement, single low Tibetan singing-bowl strike on the downbeat] Mercies at dawn — misericordias — You meet us at the morning. Greater than the night, greater than the night — Faithful is the morning, Faithful is the light. Misericordia, misericordia — Greater than the night. [Final Chorus] [Strip-down elevation: gospel choir falls away to a single soprano line; cello drone holds underneath; organum returns] Mercies at dawn — misericordias — You meet us at the morning. Faithful is the morning. Faithful is the light. [Outro] [Single sustained "ah" vowel from the lead soprano, distant hand bell, cello drone resolves and fades to silence — no whisper, no chant fade] Aaaaah... (bell)