Künstlerroman Essay

Section III (Sarah)

 

    As Thea begins her life in a small town, and gradually moves to Chicago she advances in her career path as a musical artist. In Moonstone, Thea begins her music education with Professor Wunsch, learning how to play piano. With her small town atmosphere, Thea learned many different types of music through the variety of cultures that inhabited her home town. Wunsch had German translations of Italian operas, and Spanish Johnny had his own guitar accompanied songs that influenced Thea’s curiosity of music. As her lessons go on, Wunsch teaches Thea different operas that are translated into German. Spanish Johnny occasionally plays his Spanish songs and Thea listens. She competes with Lily Fisher in a concert and meets her rival for her childhood music career.  This is Thea’s first experience with music, until Wunsch discovers that Thea has a good singing voice. During the summer, Thea taught her own music lessons and continued to play the piano. After Wunsch leaves, she still continues to teach music, but her lessons were discontinued. Only after Ray Kennedy’s death does Thea begin her long journey in pursuing a music career, but not for an artistic reason. Thea decides to prove to herself that she has a great musical ability and she can’t wait to tackle new rivals.

    Upon arriving in Chicago, Thea is presented to Reverend Lars Larsen, and starts a simple but exhausting job of singing at funerals to replace a soprano for awhile, while continuing her lessons in piano from a new teacher, Andor Harsanyi. Thea comes to Mr. Harsanyi, poorly educated on great works of music. “ When Thea sat down to take her first lesson from him, she had never heard a work by Beethoven or a composition by Chopin.” (Song of the Lark 165) In her frustration on being ignorant in classic masterpieces, Thea tries to understand how to play the famous works. As she becomes more and more agitated, she get’s her first piece of advice on being a musical artist, by Mr. Harsanyi. “Every artist makes himself born. It is very much harder than the other time, and longer. Your mother did not bring anything in the world to play piano. That you must bring into the world yourself.” (Song of the Lark 166) Thea begins to see the lessons as harder work than being taught by Wunsch, and faces difficult challenges with focusing on the piano. After Thea is invited to the Harsanyi’s house for dinner, Harsanyi discovers that Thea has a great singing voice. This discovery causes a new step in her growth as a musical artist, when Harsanyi begins teaching her piano and voice lessons. Thea doesn’t take her singing seriously until Harsanyi mentions that she has great potential to became a singer. As Thea goes through the lessons, she rarely listens to the concerts that Harsanyi provides tickets for, but when she finally gives in, she takes a new view on the way music is expressed. “This was music she could understand, music from the New World indeed! Strange how, as the first movement went on, it brought back to her that high tableland above Laramie... She was startled when the orchestra began to play again- the entry of the gods into Walhalla. She heard it as people hear things in their sleep.” (Song of the Lark 189)

    When Harsanyi tells Thea she should move on from his lessons, to that of a voice teacher, Madison Bowers, Thea refuses, then when she returns to Moonstone for a visit, experiences a new approach to her singing. She is invited to a party that Spanish Johnny is hosting. Thea decides to learn a song that Spanish Johnny used to sing, and when she performs it, she begins to appreciate her music, while her audience is simply listening for enjoyment instead of criticism. After the experience of singing to a musical people, Thea makes the decision to pursue a singing career and takes her music seriously.

    With Bower’s lessons, Thea also plays the accompaniment for the other singers. It is there that she meets Jessie Darcey, and develops a vision of what a music artist should be. Through her harsh criticism of Miss Darcey, Thea also looks at herself as a music artist, and goes through to improve her own faults as best as she can. Not too far in her schooling with Bowers, Thea meets Fred Ottenburg, and is invited to more opportunities in a music career. Fred introduces her to Mr. And Mrs. Nathanmeyer, and Thea experiences how a singer should present herself and pursue a solo career. She focuses on the competitive struggle with her music lessons and opinions of other artists.  During that summer, Fred invites Thea to visit Panther Canyon, where she receives an epiphany on what art should be. “ what was any art but an effort to make a sheath, a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining, elusive element which life itself,- life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose?” (Song of the Lark 286) After this decision, Thea develops the motivation to pursue a career as an opera singer. With this knowledge and new found confidence, Thea decides to study in Germany and takes her voice seriously. She grows in music, from a curious amateur child to a defining young artist that finally appreciates the gift she has, and uses it wisely.

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