63. Sole e amore

It is not certain whether Puccini wrote the song at the request of the periodical Paganini (newly founded in 1887), or if he utilized a pre-existing composition for that purpose.
The author of the text is also unknown. Balestrieri suggests that it was Luigi Montaldo, the editor of the periodical, or his wife Attilia. More than likely, it was Puccini himself, obviously alluding to a well-known sonnet by Giosue Carducci entitled Mattinata (No. 52 in his Rime nuove, see Kaye 1987).
At the end of the song, possibly added later (from bar 30 in 63.B.1), Puccini set a date to music: “il primo di marzo dell’ottantotto [1 March 1888]”, probably the day he finished the piece. In keeping with his appealing sense of humor, for the publication, Puccini altered those words to become the sung dedication: “Al Paganini G. Puccini”.
The presentation of the autograph to Tosti was probably connected with his 60th birthday on 9 April 1906 (see Seligman 1938, pp. 77-78). The formulation of Puccini’s written dedication to Tosti, designating Sole e amore as the “first embryo” of La Bohème (67) refers to the main theme of the Act 3 quartet (actually a double duet), which is identical with that of the song. Since Puccini can hardly have thought of La Bohème as early as 1888, this certainly is a later interpretation. The transformation of the music of Sole e amore in the opera may have been suggested by Puccini’s association of Mimì’s words “Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina” with Carducci’s Mattinata, when setting the opera’s text to music.