“Let All Be Silent - The Oxyrhynchus Hymn"
(Majestic heavily intro with strings and full orchestra, Timpani)
(Cosmic Stillness)
(Low strings, distant choir breaths)
(Silence as worship)
I. Prelude – The Silence of Creation
(Instrumental opening — low strings, soft winds, distant choir breathing)
(Optional whispered choir, barely audible)
Still…
Still…
Still…
(Invocation Solo with unison voices)
(Plain, ancient-feeling melody)
II. Call to Silence
(Choir enters softly, unison)
CHOIR
Let the world be silent.
Let every voice be still.
Let the rushing rivers cease their song,
Let the winds forget their will.
Let the radiant stars grow dim,
Let the heavens hold their breath,
For we stand before the mystery
Of life beyond all death.
(Trinitarian Ascent)
(Choir expands)
(Brass enters)
III. The Gathering of Heaven
(Choir expands — altos and tenors answer)
CHOIR
All things created, pause and bow,
Let time itself be stilled.
No sound but awe, no word but wonder,
No thought but what is willed.
The earth waits.
The sky listens.
The deep remembers His name.
Father, Son, Holy Spirit (becomes thunderous but reverent)
IV. Invocation of the Trinity
(Music begins to rise — brass restrained, choir fuller)
CHOIR
We hymn the Father, source of all,
Unseen, unending light.
We hymn the Son, the living Word,
Who shattered death and night.
We hymn the Spirit, breath of fire,
Who moves where hearts are stirred—
One God in glory,
Three in wonder,
Perfectly one, eternally heard.
(Amen Section)
(Repeated “Amen” as a wave
Almost overwhelming
Heaven answering heaven)
V. The Amen of the Powers
(Call-and-response style; antiphonal choir)
CHOIR I
Let all the powers cry aloud—
CHOIR II
Amen!
CHOIR I
Let heaven’s hosts resound—
CHOIR II
Amen!
FULL CHOIR
Amen! Amen!
Let the unseen answer the seen,
Let the eternal echo the now,
Amen! Amen!
(Builds with more rock instruments)
VI. Dominion and Glory
(Triumphant but not aggressive — regal, expansive)
CHOIR
Glory forever to God alone,
Whose kingdom has no end.
Giver of mercy, giver of life,
The beginning and the end.
No throne above Him,
No power beside Him,
No shadow upon His reign.
All dominion, all authority,
All glory to His name!
VII. Universal Praise
(Choir + orchestra at near-full strength)
CHOIR
From dust to stars, from sea to sky,
From breath to final cry,
All that is made returns in praise
To Him who heard our sigh.
Every age, every tongue,
Every soul He formed by grace,
Now lifted in one voice
Before His holy face.
VIII. Final Amen – The Eternal Echo
(Gradual slowing, choir layered, luminous)
CHOIR (layered)
Amen…
Amen…
Amen…
(Sopranos hold long notes, lower voices pulse)
CHOIR (softly)
To God be praise.
To God be glory.
To God be love unending.
FULL CHOIR (final swell)
Amen!
Amen!
Amen!
(Orchestra resolves into light — not a hard ending, but a release)
PrescottKane
