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" When I began composing the music for The Postman and the Poet, I knew that the musical structure would have to consist of three main strands, the domestic – that is the locality and the people, the relationship between Mario and Beatriz, and the political, or global. Each strand has its own identifiable theme. The first strand can be heard during MORNING ON THE QUAY, as a variation in DANCE AT ROSA'S, and right at the end of the second act bringing the location music full circle. The theme for Mario and Beatriz, LOST IN LOVE, can be heard throughout the show; during the arrival of Beatriz, in the duet between Mario and Beatriz, which is then varied and becomes a part of the argument between Rosa and Beatriz, and in NOW IS THE TIME at the end of act one, the LOST IN LOVE reprise, act two. It is also alluded to by Neruda in SOUNDS AND SIGHTS and stated for the last time in the CONCLUSION.

The political theme is heard for the first time at the beginning of STRANGERS and culminates in Labbe's song THE PUMA WAITS in act two. Although it is possible to identify other themes and tunes in each category, the stylistic trend is roughly the same. The left and right wing politics also have their own tunes which merge at the end of act one.

I was very keen that the score should be unified not just by the use of themes, but also by key. The show closes in the same key as it begins. There are occasional wild anomalies, but the gravitational pull is always toward the predominant key of E flat major and close relations.