17 h 17 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does a young woman owe her gift—and what must she give up to follow it?
In Moonstone, Colorado, sand fills the streets and the wind never rests. Thea Kronborg, a quiet minister’s daughter, has a stubborn gift for music. Professor Wunsch, a troubled German musician, gives her lessons that reach beyond the railroad town. But to train seriously, she must decide whether to leave for Chicago.
Willa Cather’s The Song of the Lark follows the slow, demanding work of becoming an artist. Dr. Howard Archie offers loyal friendship; railroad conductor Ray Kennedy believes in Thea’s talent. Yet encouragement alone cannot carry her. She needs teachers, money, solitude, and the strength to face what ambition asks of friendship, comfort, and love.
What you’ll discover
- A calling that persists Follow Thea as she struggles to give her stubborn musical gift room to grow.
- Music beyond the lessons Discover how Wunsch and Andor Harsanyi help Thea understand what serious artistic work demands.
- The West as a presence Enter a world of sandy streets, open plains, desert, and canyon that shapes Thea.
- People behind the artist Meet friends and teachers whose care supports Thea, even as their hopes complicate her path.
- The cost of ambition Consider what happens when a calling asks more than comfort, friendship, or love can easily give.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like a long, patient story about one person's growth, and anyone who has felt a calling and doubted it. It also suits lovers of music and the American West. If you want fast plots, you may find it slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A restless child in Moonstone, Colorado
- A broken teacher gives her the music
- Ray Kennedy and the desert's ancient people
- She leaves for Chicago to study
- Harsanyi hears her voice
- In Panther Canyon she finds her purpose
- Ambition has a price
- Small towns, the West and the people behind her
- How Cather tells it: three movements and a painting
Who’s who
- Thea KronborgA minister's daughter from Moonstone, Colorado, with a stubborn gift for music and a fierce wish to make something lasting of it.
- Dr. Howard ArchieThe Moonstone doctor who first notices Thea's difference and remains her loyal friend, helping her toward a wider life.
- Professor WunschA drunken German musician who gives Thea her first real lessons and teaches her what serious music demands.
- Ray KennedyA kind railroad conductor who loves Thea quietly, believes in her talent, and shares his dreams of the ancient cliff dwellers.
- Fred OttenburgThe educated son of a wealthy brewing family, charming and generous, who takes a deep interest in Thea and her voice.
- Andor HarsanyiThea's Chicago piano teacher, a cultured Hungarian who hears her true gift and sends her toward singing.
- Mrs. KohlerA warm German woman in Moonstone who shelters Wunsch and gives Thea a home where music and kindness live together.
- Spanish JohnnyA wandering Mexican musician in Moonstone whose songs draw Thea into a freer world of feeling.
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- Audiobook
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- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Das Lied der Lerche
by Willa Cather· 1915
A small-town musician pursues the demanding work of becoming a singer.
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Language: Deutsch
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
A restless child in Moonstone, Colorado
The story opens in Moonstone, a railroad town on the Colorado plain where the streets are sand and the wind never rests. Thea Kronborg is the daughter of a Swedish Methodist minister, and she is a serious, solid child who does not talk much. Her family is large, practical, and kind in a plain way. Her mother manages the household calmly, and she sees early that Thea is different without quite knowing how.
The first person to take Thea seriously is Dr. Howard Archie, the town doctor. He is a decent man in an unhappy marriage, and he is drawn to the odd girl who sits so still. When Thea falls dangerously ill, he sits up with her and the household bends around her care. That illness marks the start of a long friendship, and Dr. Archie becomes the person who watches over her future from a distance.
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The author
Willa Cather
1873–1947 · American novelist
Willa Cather was an American novelist celebrated for her portraits of prairie life on the Great Plains. My Ántonia, her 1918 story of a Bohemian immigrant girl in Nebraska, remains one of the most beloved American novels of its era.
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What is The Song of the Lark about?
It tells of Thea Kronborg, a minister's daughter from a Colorado railroad town, who becomes a serious singer. The novel follows her teachers, her training in Chicago, her stay in Arizona, and the costs of her ambition.
Why is the book called The Song of the Lark?
The title comes from a painting by Jules Breton that Thea sees in Chicago. It shows a peasant girl in a field at dawn, listening to a lark, and it suggests song rising from plain ground.
Is The Song of the Lark based on a real person?
Cather drew on the career of the Swedish American singer Olive Fremstad, whom she had met, though Thea is an invented character. The Colorado setting and Cather's own feeling for art also shaped the book.
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