(Sharp bell. Immediate rhythmic clap pattern from

Rigid, ritualized ensemble number in a dark chamber musical, tempo around 70–75 bpm with sharp, militaristic precision, driven by wooden ruler strikes, hand claps, stomp board, and muted frame drum, harmonium lightly sustaining underneath, female voices in clipped unison with minimal vibrato to evoke institutional authority, contralto solo entering with low sustained authority tone, harmonic language mostly modal and restrained, dynamic controlled and severe rather than explosive, brief underlying reprise of the earlier hymn motif woven subtly into the harmony, percussion cutting abruptly to silence at key commands, overall tone austere, disciplined, chilling, and rhythmically exact like a choreographed system of control.

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Lyrics

(Sharp bell. Immediate rhythmic clap pattern from Nuns. 72 bpm. Stiff, precise.) NUNS (unison, clipped) Rule the tongue. Rule the eyes. Rule the hands That wander wide. Rule the thought Before it forms. Rule the body Into norms. (Wooden ruler strikes table in tempo.) ENSEMBLE (response) Yes, Mother. Yes, Mother. NUNS Rise at five. Wash at six. Prayer at seven. Silence fixed. Labor keeps The blood from heat. Idle girls Invite defeat. (Percussion builds from earlier labor motif but tighter, more militarized.) GIRLS (under breath, slightly out of sync) Rise at five. Bite the tongue. Fold the sheets. Stay small. Stay young. HEADMISTRESS (entering, low contralto line) The house is mercy. The house is shield. The world is hunger. The house must yield Nothing to weakness. Nothing to flame. We take your chaos. We give you a name. GIRLS (quiet irony) Wayward. (Headmistress ignores it.) NUNS No letters sent Without review. No glances held Too long or true. No laughter sharp. No whispered plan. No body left To understand Itself without Our guiding hand. (Percussion snaps to halt.) HEADMISTRESS (cold clarity) Confession at dawn. One by one. (Maria stiffens.) MARIA (small, almost involuntary) Mother— HEADMISTRESS (cutting her off) One by one. (Soft reprise of “All Hail” motif under.) FULL ENSEMBLE (measured, ritual tone) All hail the order. All hail the rule. All hail correction As sacred school. All hail the breaking Of errant will. All hail obedience Cold and still. (On last line, Headmistress gestures to Maria.) NUN (quiet, firm) Maria.