The Bells of St. Sebastian

Lyrics

(During the following music, CARLA, dressed as a nun, ushers the BOYS back on stage, where they clasp their hands in prayer. CARLA moves to SARRAGHINA's box and prays there, having assumed the posture of a nun; SARRAGHINA moves to CARLA's box, sits, and waits.) [GUIDO] I remember St. Sebastian with a memory most unkind I can hear the bells I heard when I went there Inside the church Inside my mind The bells of St. Sebastian only ring once in your ears But if you're very young when you hеar them Their sound can last A hundred yеars [GUIDO AND ENSEMBLE] But the music of the ringing Was the music of our singing When we were singing Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison Each day at lauds Each night at vespers From every tower The hour would be told For those of us at St. Sebastian No longer young And not yet old [GUIDO'S MOTHER] But why did you go to her? [LITTLE GUIDO] To see what she was like! [GUIDO] Each day at St. Sebastian In the classroom, we would hear That devils lurked behind every corner If you tried to look They would disappear The nuns at St. Sebastian tried to teach the facts of life Explaining there are two kinds of women One was a whore One was a wife [GUIDO AND ENSEMBLE] But the music of the ringing Was a different world that opened through our singing When we were singing Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison They rang at dawn They rang at midnight In tones well-rounded They sounded down the nave For all the souls of little boys at St. Sebastian Too young to save Kyrie eleison Eleison Christe eleison Eleison [GUIDO] You've brought such shame on us! [LITTLE GUIDO] But mama, I didn't know! [GUIDO AND ENSEMBLE] For lunch at St. Sebastian Country cheese and buttered bread [GUIDO] A prayer we never learned sang in Latin Then a midday nap In a makeshift bed [GUIDO AND ENSEMBLE] Then the music of the ringing Then the music of our singing And we were singing Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison Kyrie eleison We should have known They should have warned us At St. Sebastian They never spared the rod But in the music of the bells at St. Sebastian We looked for God [LITTLE GUIDO] Kyrie eleison... [GUIDO'S MOTHER] Guido, where are you running to? (LITTLE GUIDO has run back to wave at SARRAGHINA. She returns his wave as the curtain falls to end Act One.)