Poulenc set his libretto largely in recitative. His own religious feelings 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.