39. Salve Regina

Ghislanzoni’s poem Salve Regina, freely adapting the liturgical antiphon of the same name, was first published in 1882 in the second edition of his Melodie per Canto. This refutes Fellerer’s assumption that the song was composed earlier than 1880. Puccini probably set the poem to music (as with two other Ghislanzoni texts: 40 and 41) in the spring of 1883. 39.A.1 and 39.B.1 seem to have been notated very quickly, one after the other, providing the reader with a real glimpse of the way Puccini composed this work, with only some very minor corrections in the process.
Puccini also used this music in the finale of the first part of Le Villi (60, as No. 5, Preghiera, of the current Ricordi score).