and the church officially opposed homosexuality. Opera critic Alan Rich believes that Poulenc's concern for the travails of post-World War II France, as it tried to reconcile issues related to the Holocaust, German occupation and the Resistance, was a subtext within the opera. Wallmann worked closely with Poulenc during the composition process and in evolving the structure, as well as later when she re-staged the production in other theatres. The libretto is unusually deep in its psychological study of the contrasting characters of Mother Marie de l'Incarnation and Blanche de la Force. Rodney Milnes describes Bernanos' text as "concise and clear" and that like "all good librettos it suggests far more than it states". Analysis Poulenc set his libretto largely in recitative. His own religious devotions are particularly evident in the a cappella setting of Ave Maria in Act II, Scene II, and the Ave verum corpus in Act II, Scene IV. During the final tableau of the opera, which takes place in the Place de la Nation, the distinct sound of the guillotine's descending blade is heard repeatedly over the orchestra and the singing of the nuns, who are taken one by one, until only Soeur Constance and Blanche de la Force remain. Poulenc acknowledged his debt to Mussorgsky, Monteverdi, Verdi, and Debussy in his dedication of the opera, with the casual remark: "You must forgive my Carmelites. It seems they can only sing tonal music." Music critic Anthony Tommasini has commented on the opera: "Poulenc's subtle and intricate tonal language is by turns hymnal and haunting. Though scored for a large orchestra, the instruments are often used in smaller groups selected for particular effects and colorings. The most distinctive element of the score, though, is its wonderfully natural vocal writing, which captures the rhythms and lyrical flow of the libretto in eloquent music that hardly calls attention to itself yet lingers with you." Opera historian Charles Osborne wrote: "The inexorable dramatic movement of the work is impressive and, in the final scene in which the nuns walk in procession to the guillotine chanting the Salve regina, extremely moving. Poulenc also found an easy and effective style with which to carry forward without monotony the scenes of convent life." Philip Hensher has commented on the unique place of this opera in its depiction of convent life: "...unlike every other opera about nuns, it finds space for a serious discussion