Puccini stood on the parapet of Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome to notate the exact pitches and rhythms of matin bells in order to make his depiction of dawn on the day of Cavaradossi's "execution" as realistic as possible. The resultant combination of bells and orchestra is one of the most beautiful "mood settings" in all of opera. The exquisite cello quartet that leads into Cavaradossi's "E lucevan le stelle" immediately follows. Several libraries were utilized, particularly Cinematic Strings, Spitfire Woodwinds and Brass solos, and BBCSO harp and percussion. Bells are all from Sonokinetic's Toll.
