Leitmotif - violinsection

Leitmotif 1

Leitmotif

A leitmotif (  /ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf/), sometimes

written leit-motif, is a musical term (though

occasionally used in theatre or literature),

referring to a recurring theme, associated Leitmotif associated with Siegfried in Richard Wagner's opera (see below)
with a particular person, place, or idea. It is

closely related to the musical idea of idée

fixe. The term itself comes from the German Leitmotiv, literally meaning "leading motif", or, perhaps more

accurately, "guiding motif."

In particular such a theme should be 'clearly identified so as to retain its identity if modified on subsequent
appearances' whether such modification be in terms of rhythm, harmony, orchestration or accompaniment. It may
also be 'combined with other leitmotifs to suggest a new dramatic condition' or development.[1] The technique is
notably associated with the operas of Richard Wagner, although he was not its originator, and did not employ the
word in connection with his work.

Although usually a short melody, it can also be a chord progression or even a simple rhythm. Leitmotifs can help to
bind a work together into a coherent whole, and also enable the composer to relate a story without the use of words,
or to add an extra level to an already present story.

By extension, the word has also been used to mean any sort of recurring theme, (whether or not subject to
developmental transformation) in music, literature, or (metaphorically) the life of a fictional character or a real
person. It is sometimes also used in discussion of other musical genres, such as instrumental pieces, cinema, and
video game music, sometimes interchangeably with the more general category of 'theme'. Such usages typically
obscure the crucial aspect of a leitmotif, as opposed to the plain musical motif or theme - that it is transformable and
recurs in different guises throughout the piece in which it occurs.

Classical music

Early usage in classical music

The use of characteristic, short, recurring motives in orchestral music can be traced back to the late eighteenth
century. In French opera of this period (such as the works of Grétry and Méhul), "reminiscence motives" can be
identified, which may recur at a significant juncture in the plot to establish an association with earlier events. Their
use, however, is not extensive or systematic. The power of the technique was exploited early in the nineteenth
century by composers of Romantic opera, such as Carl Maria von Weber, where recurring themes or ideas were
sometimes used in association with specific characters (e.g. Sammael in Der Freischütz is coupled with the chord of
a diminished seventh).[2] Indeed, the first use of the word "leitmotif" in print was by the critic F. W. Jähns in
describing Weber's work, although this was not until 1871.[3] Motives were also important in purely instrumental
music of the romantic period. The related idea of the musical idée fixe was coined by Hector Berlioz in reference to
his Symphonie fantastique (1830). This purely instrumental, programmatic work (subtitled 'Episode in the Life of an
Artist') features a recurring melody representing the object of the artist's obsessive affection and depicting her
presence in various real and imagined situations.

Leitmotif 2

Wagner

Richard Wagner is the composer most

often associated with leitmotifs. His

cycle of four operas, Der Ring des

Nibelungen (the music for which was The 'Siegfried' leitmotif from Act III of Wagner's opera, the third of his 'Ring' cycle; the
written between 1853 and 1869), uses theme is broader and more richly orchestrated than its earlier appearances (see above),
dozens of leitmotifs, often related to
suggesting the emergence of Siegfried's heroic character

specific characters, things, or
situations. While some of these leitmotifs occur in only one of the operas, many recur throughout the entire cycle.[4]
[5] Wagner had raised the issue of how music could best unite disparate elements of the plot of a music drama in his
essay Opera and Drama (1851); the leitmotif technique corresponds to this ideal.[6] Some controversy surrounded the

use of the word in Wagner's own circle: Wagner never authorised the use of the word "leitmotiv", using words such

as "Grundthema" (basic idea), or simply "Motiv". His preferred name for the technique was Hauptmotiv (principal

motif), which he first used in 1877; the only time he used the word 'Leitmotiv', he referred to 'so-called
Leitmotivs'.[7]

The word became controversial among Wagnerians because of its early association with the overly literal

interpretations of Wagner's music by Hans von Wolzogen, who in 1876 published a "Leitfaden" (guide or manual) to

the "Ring". In it he claimed to have isolated and named all of the recurring motives in the cycle (the motive of

"Servitude", the "Spear" or "Treaty" motive, etc.), often leading to absurdities or contradictions with Wagner's actual
practice.[8] Some of the motifs he identified began to appear in the published musical scores of the operas, arousing

Wagner's annoyance; his wife Cosima Wagner quoted him as saying 'People will think all this nonsense is done at
my request!'.[9] In fact Wagner himself never publicly named any of his leitmotifs, preferring to emphasise their

flexibility of association, role in the musical form, and emotional effect. The practice of naming leitmotifs

nevertheless continued, including in the work of prominent Wagnerian critics Ernest Newman, Deryck Cooke and
Robert Donington.[10]

The resulting lists of leitmotifs also attracted the ridicule of anti-Wagnerian critics and composers (such as Eduard

Hanslick, Claude Debussy, and Igor Stravinsky). They identified the motif with Wagner's own approach to
composing, mocking the impression of a musical "address book" or list of "cloakroom numbers" it created.[11]

After Wagner

Since Wagner, the use of leitmotifs has been taken up by many other composers. Richard Strauss used the device in
many of his operas and several of his symphonic poems. Despite his sometimes acerbic comments on Wagner,
Claude Debussy utilised leitmotifs in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande (1902). Arnold Schoenberg used a complex set
of leifmotifs in his choral work Gurre-Lieder (completed 1911). Ruggero Leoncavallo used leitmotifs in his opera
Pagliacci (1892), using melodies from the opera's arias in the overture, intermezzo and the overall orchestral
accompaniment. Alban Berg's opera Wozzeck (1914–1922) also utilises leitmotifs.

Leitmotif 3

Literature, drama and film

'Leitmotif' is often used to refer to the significant repetition of any element in a book, play, novel, film, or other
artistic works. In literature, a leitmotif is used as a recurring event, image, object or character in a story, poem or
play. Leitmotifs (or motifs) become significant to the meaning of the overall work when they develop thematic
importance. In film, a motif is most frequently a plot device, image, character trait, or element of the mise en scène.

Leitmotif-like techniques, with word patterns replacing melodies, are said to be used in the "Sirens" chapter of
Ulysses by James Joyce (chapter 11). Critics argue that there are recurring themes of music that begin at the
beginning of the chapter and continue throughout the rest of the chapter, and also the book.

The "leitmotif" is also present in Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. The themes of the Virgin Mary and
the Greek myth of Stephen's namesake, Daedalus, are some of the more noticeable leitmotifs throughout the work.
The leitmotif in this novel provides unity as the character of Stephen matures.

Samuel Beckett uses leitmotifs throughout his body of works. Other writers who have used similar techniques
include Virginia Woolf, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Thomas Mann, Chuck Palahniuk, and Julian Barnes in his
1989 novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters.

Critique of the leitmotif concept

The critic Theodor Adorno, in his book In Search of Wagner (written in the 1930s), expresses the opinion that the
entire concept of the leitmotif is flawed. The motif cannot be both the bearer of expression and a musical 'gesture',
because that reduces emotional content to a mechanical process. He notes that 'even in Wagner's own day the public
made a crude link between the leitmotivs and the persons they characterised' because people's innate mental
processes did not necessarily correspond with Wagner's subtle intentions or optimistic expectations. He continues:

The degeneration of the leitmotiv is implicit in this [...] it leads directly to cinema music where the sole
function of the leitmotiv is to announce heroes or situations so as to allow the audience to orient itself
more easily'[12]

In popular culture

Leitmotifs in Adorno's 'degenerated' sense frequently occur in movie scores, and have done since the early decades
of sound film. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's 1938 score for Robin Hood, for example, can be heard to attach particular
themes and harmonies to individual characters: Robin, Will, Much, and Gisbourne are all accompanied by distinctive
musical material. A more modern example is the Star Wars series, in which composer John Williams uses a large
number of themes specifically associated with people and concepts (for example, a particular motif attaches to the
idea of the Force).

References

[1] New Grove Dictionary, Leitmotif
[2] Oxford Concise, Leitmotiv
[3] New Grove Dictionary, Leitmotif
[4] Millington (1992), 234-5
[5] Grout (2003), Chapter 22 (http://books.google.com/books?id=l_b2vIXHsUkC&pg=PA456)
[6] Burbidge and Sutton, (1979), pp. 345-6
[7] Oxford Concise , Leitmotiv
[8] See Thorau, 2009
[9] Cosima Wagner,(1980), II, 697 (1 August 1881)
[10] See e.g. Donnington (1979), passim
[11] Rehding (2007), 348
[12] Adorno (205), pp.34–36

• Theodor Adorno,tr. Rodney Livingstone , In Search of Wagner, London 2005 (ISBN 9781844673445)

Leitmotif 4

• Aylmer Buesst, Richard Wagner's "The Nibelung's Ring": An Act By Act Guide to the Plot and Music (1932; 2nd
ed. 1952)

• Peter Burbidge and Richard Sutton, The Wagner Companion, London, 1979. ISBN 0571 114504
• R. Donnington, Wagner's 'Ring' and its Symbols, London, 1979
• Donald Jay Grout and Hermine Weigel Williams (2003). A short history of opera (4rth ed.). Columbia University

Press. ISBN 0231119585
• H. Rosenthal and J. Warrack (eds.), Concise Oxford Dictionary of Opera, Oxford 1979
• Barry Millington (ed.), The Wagner Compendium, London 1992
• Alexander Rehding, review of Christian Thorau, Semantisierte Sinnlichkeit: Studien zu Rezeption und

Zeichenstruktur der Leitmotivtechnik Richard Wagners in Opera Quarterly vol. 23 (Oxford, 2007) pp. 348–351
• Stanley Sadie, ed., New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Leitmotif (by John Warrack).
• Christian Thorau, Guides for Wagnerites: Letimotifs and Wagnerian Listening, in T. Grey, (ed.), Richard Wagner

and his World, (pp. 133–150) Princeton 2009 ISBN 9780691143668
• Cosima Wagner, tr. Geoffrey Skelton, Cosima Wagner's Diaries (2 vols.), London 1980.

Article Sources and Contributors 5

Article Sources and Contributors

Leitmotif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=431958404  Contributors: ARog, Adj08, Akira7, Anaxial, Andycjp, Antandrus, Antti29, Atavi, Bdelisle, Bender235, Bigone2,
Bisqwit, Boivie, Brews ohare, Busterbros, CLW, Cain Mosni, CambridgeBayWeather, Camembert, CanisRufus, Canley, CheShA, Chevellefan11, Chowbok, Colin Barrett, Colonies Chris, DTOx,
Dante Alighieri, Darrien, Deathsythe, Deflective, Demcanulty, Derekmasuda, Doktor Waterhouse, Dolphin Jedi, Dominus, Dpeters911, Dysprosia, E.G., Editor510, Edokter, Erianna, Fennertree,
Fogeltje, FoxyRhino, Froggity-Frog, Gnottong, Gorf123, GrandpaDoc, Haploidavey, HarryHenryGebel, Hibana, Hifrommike65, Hkchan123, Hornlitz, Horus86, Hyacinth, Indielady, JQF, JRM,
JackofOz, Jauhienij, Jeff Silvers, Jerzy, Johan Magnus, Jondude11, Josiah Rowe, Jrtayloriv, Kaobear, Kchishol1970, Kipoc, Kiuheichu, Kleinzach, Kohran, Koweja, Kwamikagami, Kweeket,
Lambyuk, LeoNomis, Loadmaster, LodeRunner, LudwigVan, Macoukji, Magioladitis, MajinNecro69, Mani1, Marminnetje, Mboverload, Meegs, MegX, Merphant, Michael Devore, MusiKmatt,
NOFmXc, Obersachse, Ocee, Oconnell usa, OldakQuill, Oos, Patrick, Peter cohen, Peyre, Pfistermeister, Phil Urich, Phlegat, Pikawil, Pit, Ppk01, Quaeler, Quarl, RFBailey, Resmc, Rich
Farmbrough, Rmhermen, Runefurb, Sannse, Sceptre, Schmendrick, Sehsuan, Shane Lawrence, Shanes, Slicing, Sluzzelin, Smerus, Snaxe920, Sneakums, Someone else, Squeemu, Sroc,
StAnselm, Steve Farrell, Tarquin, TheBilly, TheEditrix2, Thebogusman, Think outside the box, Tiger Eye 27, TimMagic, Toadaron, Tristan Morin, Valley2city, Vanderdecken, Violncello, WAS,
Wahoofive, Weregerbil, WikiParker, Wolfdog, Wwagner, Xanzzibar, Y2kcrazyjoker4, Yoghurt, Yrithinnd, 282 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

File:Siegfriedleitmotif1.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Siegfriedleitmotif1.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Richard Wagner
File:Loudspeaker.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Loudspeaker.svg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: -
File:Siegfriedleitmotif2.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Siegfriedleitmotif2.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Richard Wagner

License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/