thunder declaring with a mighty noise
what we once knew but later chose to hide
believing we had so few other ploys
and only a small chance to save our pride
this was the the noble sound we came to hear
sublimest product of the engineer
of music there was the full weight of night
being lifted up around us the height
of passion reached in moments and the pace
of dragons felt as if it were their right
we knew it all and knew it all for grace

the calm the strain the skill that he deploys
marks the director as the truest guide
brimful of zest and  yet with equipoise
he knows he's got us all here for the ride
to turn us all at once to wolf and deer
and have a world of magic just appear
before our eyes without the power of sight
by mass effect of sound and not of light
no easy thing our plain lives to displace
a thousand voices is a tool of might
we knew it all and knew it all for grace

my eye is on the many girls and boys
in rank behind as all these worlds collide
what do they know how do they have such poise
in the great task in which they are allied
so much depends on voice bright and austere
all deeply human that is very clear
we have full understanding of the rite
and know the meaning all the words incite
into the sacred silence of this space
hope for escape from the old mortal plight
we knew it all and knew it all for grace

prince you have asked about that magic night
and how the mass of sound was got just right
across the world i tell you to your face
you had to be there darkness vanished quite
we knew it all and knew it all for grace