The Song of the Lark

Music is an important motif in The Song of the Lark. Music moves people and brings them together across cultures and classes.

As a child, Thea gains the support of adults in her life because they are moved by the power of her musical talent. In a town like Moonstone, where many people suffer from poverty and hard labor is a constant reality, music reminds people of their humanity. Thea is therefore the doorway to their humanity because she has musical talent. She brings joy to what can otherwise feel like a bleak life, especially to people like Professor Wunsch and Dr. Archie, who question how they ended up in Moonstone in the first place. Because Thea has the power of music, she is characterized early in the novel as having talent and power that are too large for her small town. Thus, her musical power is a double-edged sword; she must move away from the setting in which she is appreciated and adored to fully grow into an artist who can move the masses.

Willa Cather explores music as a powerful tool to bring human beings together across their perceived differences. When Thea sings with the Mexican people in her community, the whole town can hear spurts of the music:

[They heard] Johnny’s reedy tenor they knew well, and the bricklayer’s big, opaque barytone; the others might be anybody over there—just Mexican voices. Then at the appointed, at the acute, moment, the soprano voice, like a fountain jet, shot up into the light (119).

The way her voice molds with the Mexican community’s music and the way their voices play off one another highlight their differences as something beautiful. Humans often divide themselves by national, ethnic, religious, and racial identity. Music can surpass those boundaries and cultivate a sense of community.