{"id":11174,"date":"2022-01-21T15:31:13","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:31:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=162383"},"modified":"2022-01-21T15:50:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T14:50:09","slug":"what-is-a-leitmotif","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/what-is-a-leitmotif\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a leitmotif?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Charlotte Smith\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 21 January 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

What is a leitmotif?<\/b><\/h2>\n
A leitmotif is a brief, recurring musical phrase associated with a person, place or concept. The word is an anglicised version of the German Letimotiv<\/i>, meaning \u2018leading motif\u2019. Often used in opera, but also in symphonic poems and more recently in film scores, the musical device is used to underpin the narrative, to provide psychological context, to recall previous events and to point to ideas related to the drama. Usually a melodic phrase, the leitmotif can also be a chord progression or rhythmic device and can be developed by changes of rhythm or pitch, instrumentation, the addition of new material or building on idea fragments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\nThe Valhalla leitmotif from Wagner\u2019s Das Rheingold<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>When did the leitmotif first appear?<\/b><\/h2>\nThe use of a short recurring motif in music can be traced back to early 17th-century works, such as Monteverdi\u2019s L\u2019Orfeo<\/i>. <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/mozart\/"\">Mozart<\/a> <\/strong>used the four-bar phrase \u2018<a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/reviews\/monthly-choice\/exploring-trials-love-and-pain-mozarts-cos-fan-tutte\/"\">Cos\u00ec fan tutte<\/i><\/a><\/strong>\u2019 (\u2018Thus do they all\u2019), in his eponymous opera, and in the early 19th century, <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/carl-maria-von-weber\/"\">Carl Maria von Weber<\/a> <\/strong>used recurring themes in association with his characters in operas such as Der Freisch\u00fctz<\/i> (\u2018The Marksman\u2019), premiered in 1821. However, it was not until 1871 that the critic Friedrich Wilhelm J\u00e4hns used the term when describing Weber\u2019s works.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>How did Wagner use leitmotifs?<\/b><\/h2>\nThe composer most often associated with the leitmotif (though he never used the term when describing his works) is <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/richard-wagner\/"\">Wagner<\/a><\/strong>. His famous <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/tag\/wagners-ring-cycle\/"\">Ring<\/i>\u00a0Cycle<\/a> <\/strong>of four operas (written between 1863 and 1869) uses hundreds of leitmotifs to signify characters, objects, ideas and situations. Not only do the short themes operate as a tool of musical identification, they also signify psychological transformation, and serve to unify the plots and scores of the four operas. Wagner also used leitmotifs in his operas <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-wagners-tristan-und-isolde\/"\">Tristan und Isolde<\/i><\/a> <\/strong>and <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/guide-wagners-die-meistersinger-von-n-rnberg\/"\">Die Meistersinger<\/i><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Wagner\" die=\"\" walkure=\"\" first=\"\" siegfried=\"\" leitmotif=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""150"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4kq39cz8Ic0?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nSiegfried\u2019s leitmotif from Wagner\u2019s Die Walk\u00fcre<\/em><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/what-does-wagners-ring-cycle-mean\/"\">What is Wagner\u2019s Ring Cycle?<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/wagner-why-the-music-of-the-brilliant-german-composer-is-often-misunderstood-and-considered-difficult\/"\">Wagner: why the music of the German composer is often misunderstood<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><h2>Did composers after Wagner work with leitmotifs?<\/b><\/h2>\nFollowing Wagner, many composers used the device, including <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/richard-strauss\/"\">Richard Strauss<\/a> <\/strong>in his symphonic poems and operas, <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/claude-debussy\/"\">Debussy<\/a> <\/strong>in his opera <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/introduction-debussys-pelleas-et-melisande\/"\">Pell\u00e9as et M\u00e9lisande<\/i><\/a><\/strong>, <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/arnold-schoenberg\/"\">Arnold Schoenberg<\/a><\/strong> in his choral work Gurre-Lieder<\/i> and <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/introduction-berg\/"\">Alban Berg<\/a> <\/strong>in his opera Wozzeck<\/i>.<\/p>\n<h2>How have film composers used leitmotifs?<\/b><\/h2>\nThe leitmotif has proven particularly effective in film scores as a means of creating continuity, heightening the drama and building an emotional connection between characters and the audience. One of the most famous leitmotifs is the \u2018shark theme\u2019 in <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/williams-john\/"\">John Williams<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s score for Jaws<\/i>, comprising just two alternating notes in the bass register to signify the menacing approach of the shark. Williams has similarly used Wagnarian-style leitmotifs in his soundtracks for the <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/news\/john-williamss-star-wars-theme-named-nations-favourite-film-score\/"\">Star Wars<\/i><\/a> <\/strong>and Harry Potter<\/i> franchises. In his score for The Lord of the Rings<\/i>, Howard Shore uses an array of interconnecting leitmotifs to signify characters and locations, and composers including Danny Elfman, Hans Zimmer and James Horner have used leitmotifs to similar effect.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/works\/best-star-wars-music-scores\/"\">All nine Star Wars scores ranked worst to best<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/four-best-john-williams-recordings\/"\">Four of the best John Williams recordings<\/b><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>The shark leitmotif from John Williams\u2019s soundtrack to Jaws<\/em><\/p>\nMain photo: Valkyrie and a Dying Hero\u00a0\u00a9 Getty Images<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Charlotte Smith Published: Friday, 21 January 2022 at 12:00 am What is a leitmotif? A leitmotif is a brief, recurring musical phrase associated with a person, place or concept. The word is an anglicised version of the German Letimotiv, meaning \u2018leading motif\u2019. Often used in opera, but also in symphonic poems and more recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":11175,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif.jpg",1890,1212,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif-300x192.jpg",300,192,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif-768x492.jpg",768,492,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif-1024x657.jpg",800,513,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif-1536x985.jpg",1536,985,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2022\/01\/what-is-a-leitmotif.jpg",1890,1212,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Charlotte Smith Published: Friday, 21 January 2022 at 12:00 am What is a leitmotif? A leitmotif is a brief, recurring musical phrase associated with a person, place or concept. The word is an anglicised version of the German Letimotiv, meaning \u2018leading motif\u2019. Often used in opera, but also in symphonic poems and more recently…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/11174"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}