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. 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.
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. 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!'. 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.
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.
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.
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'
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).
Category:German loanwords Category:Motifs Category:Musical form Category:Opera terminology Category:Richard Wagner
az:Leytmotiv be:Лейтматыў be-x-old:Ляйтматыў ca:Leitmotiv da:Ledemotiv de:Leitmotiv el:Καθοδηγητικό μοτίβο es:Leitmotiv eo:Gvidmotivo fa:لایتموتیف fr:Leitmotiv gl:Leitmotiv hr:Lajtmotiv it:Leitmotiv he:לייטמוטיב hu:Vezérmotívum nl:Leidmotief ja:ライトモティーフ no:Ledemotiv pl:Leitmotiv pt:Leitmotiv (música) ru:Лейтмотив simple:Leitmotif fi:Johtoaihe sv:Ledmotiv tr:Leitmotiv uk:Лейтмотив zh:主导动机This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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