Leitmotif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

Leitmotif
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A leitmotif ( /latmotif/), sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term (though occasionally used in theatre or literature), referring to a recurring theme, associated with Leitmotif associated with Siegfried in a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely Richard Wagner's opera (see below) related to the musical idea of ide xe. 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 identied so as to retain its identity if modied on subsequent appearances' whether such modication be in terms of rhythm, harmony, orchestration or accompaniment. It may also be 'combined with other [1] 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 ctional 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 dierent guises throughout the piece in which it occurs.

Contents
1 Classical music 1.1 Early instances in classical music 1.2 Wagner 1.3 After Wagner 1.4 Critique of the leitmotif concept 2 In lm music 3 In literature and drama 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading

1 of 5

05/15/2012 01:45 PM

Leitmotif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

Classical music
Early instances 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 Grtry and Mhul), "reminiscence motives" can be identied, which may recur at a signicant 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 specic characters (e.g. Sammael in Der Freischtz is coupled with the chord of a [2] diminished seventh). Indeed, the rst use of the word "Leitmotif" in print was by the critic Friedrich Wilhelm Jhns in describing Weber's work, although this was not until 1871.[3] Motives also gured occasionally in purely instrumental music of the romantic period. The related idea of the musical ide xe 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 aection and depicting her presence in various real and imagined situations.

Wagner
Richard Wagner is the earliest composer most specically associated with the concept of leitmotif. His cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen (the music for which was written between 1853 and 1869), uses dozens of leitmotifs, often related to specic characters, things, or situations. While some of these leitmotifs occur in only one of the operas, many recur throughout the entire cycle.[4][5]

The 'Siegfried' leitmotif from Act III of Wagner's opera, the third of his 'Ring' cycle; the theme is broader and more richly orchestrated than its earlier appearances (see above), suggesting the emergence of Siegfried's heroic character

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 rst used in 1877; the only time he used the word 'Leitmotiv', he referred to 'so-called Leitmotivs'.[7] The word gained currency with the overly literal interpretations of Wagner's music by

2 of 5

05/15/2012 01:45 PM

Leitmotif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

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 [8] absurdities or contradictions with Wagner's actual practice. Some of the motifs he identied 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 [9] this nonsense is done at my request!'. In fact Wagner himself never publicly named any of his leitmotifs, preferring to emphasise their exibility of association, role in the musical form, and emotional eect. The practice of naming leitmotifs nevertheless continued, featuring 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 identied the motif with Wagner's own approach to composing, mocking the impression [11] of a musical "address book" or list of "cloakroom numbers" it created.

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 The leitmotif associated with Salome herself in sometimes acerbic comments on Wagner, Richard Strauss's opera Salome. Claude Debussy utilised leitmotifs in his opera Pellas et Mlisande (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 (19141922) also utilises leitmotifs.

Critique of the leitmotif concept

The critic Theodor W. Adorno, in his book In Search of Wagner (written in the 1930s), expresses the opinion that the entire concept of the leitmotif is awed. 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 lm music
3 of 5 05/15/2012 01:45 PM

Leitmotif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

Leitmotifs in Adorno's 'degenerated' sense frequently occur in movie scores, and have done since the early decades of sound lm. Erich Wolfgang Korngold's 1938 score for The Adventures of 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 specically associated with people and concepts (for example, a particular motif attaches to the presence of Darth Vader and another to the idea of the Force).

In literature and drama

'Leitmotif' is sometimes used by literary or dramatic critics to refer to a recurring event, image, object or character in a story, poem, lm or play. Leitmotifs (or motifs) become signicant to the meaning of the overall work when they develop thematic importance. In lm, such a motif is most frequently a plot device, image, character trait, or element of the mise en scne. 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 10 Chapters.

See also
Motif (music) Motif (literature) Motif (art) Image song

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

4 of 5

05/15/2012 01:45 PM

Leitmotif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leitmotif

12. ^ Adorno (205), pp.3436

Further reading
Theodor Adorno,tr. Rodney Livingstone, In Search of Wagner, London 2005 (ISBN 9781844673445) 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 0-571-11450-4 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 0-231-11958-5 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. 348351 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. 133150) Princeton 2009 ISBN 978-0-691-14366-8 Cosima Wagner, tr. Georey Skelton, Cosima Wagner's Diaries (2 vols.), London 1980. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leitmotif& oldid=490254037" Categories: German loanwords Motifs Musical form Opera terminology Literary motifs Richard Wagner This page was last modied on 2 May 2012 at 06:24. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-prot organization.

5 of 5

05/15/2012 01:45 PM