A Wagner Matinee

Consider the language Cather uses to describe life on the American frontier. How does her choice of words and phrases underscore her depiction of the region's remoteness and desolation?

Clark repeatedly compares his aunt to an explorer or, at the very least, a traveler to distant places (e.g. "a frozen camp on the Yukon"). How do these passages intersect or contrast with the idea of music as a form of transportation?

Choose one of the musical pieces Cather references in this story and briefly research it. What does the allusion to this piece add to "A Wagner Matinée" in terms of theme or character?