A nightingale sings. This is profoundly calm and quiet night-music, carried by the softer voices of the orchestra throughout. At the very conclusion, a recording of a nightingale s singing is added to the orchestral texture probably the very earliest instance of a composer using prerecorded sounds in a concert piece. The final section is titled Pines of the Appian Way . Misty Dawn on the Appian Way.
Solitary pines stand guard over the tragic countryside.
The faint unceasing rhythm of numberless steps. To create this picture of Roman military might, Respighi s score calls for six bucinae Roman war trumpets.