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The German word Motiv is borrowed from the French motif, meaning motive or theme. Prefixing it with Leit- (coming from G. leiten, to lead), produces Leitmotiv (G. pl. Leitmotive), meaning "lead motif".
A leitmotif is usually a short melody, although it can also be a chord progression or even a simple rhythms. 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.
The word is usually used when talking about dramatic works, especially operas, although leitmotifs are also used in other musical genres, such as instrumental pieces or video game music as well. The Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz is purely instrumental, but has a recurring melody representing the love of the central character. Berlioz himself called this an idée fixe. There is also some similarity with Tchaikovsky's use of motto themes - in his Fifth Symphony, for example, when one particular melody is representative of fate.
Richard Wagner is the composer most often associated with leitmotifs, and his operas make liberal use of them. His cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen, uses dozens of leitmotifs, representing characters, things, or situations; while some of these leitmotifs occur in only one of the operas, many occur throughout the entire cycle. However, leitmotifs had been used by other composers before him, most notably Carl Maria von Weber, who was probably the first to make extensive use of them. The first use of the word "leitmotif" in print, however, was not until 1871, when criticA critic (derived from the ancient Greek word krites meaning a judge) is a person who offers a value judgement or an interpretation. The term is used in particular for a professional who regularly judges or interprets performances or other work of other p F. W. Jähns used it in describing Weber's work. The first use of the term with reference to Wagner's music was apparently in 1887 by H. von Wolzogen, the editor of the Bayreuther Blätter, in discussing Götterdämmerung. (Wagner had used "Grundthema" (basic idea) in speaking of his leitmotifs.)Since Wagner, the use of leitmotifs has been taken up by many other composerA composer is a person who writes music. The term refers particularly to someone who writes music in some type of musical notation, thus allowing others to perform the music. This distinguishes the composer from a musician who improvises. However, a persos. Richard StraussRichard Strauss ( June 11, 1864 September 8, 1949) was a German composer of classical music particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. He was also a noted conductor. He was born on June 11, 1864 in Munich, Germany, the son of Franz Strauss who was used the device in many of his operas and several of his symphonic poemA symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. This programme could come from a poem, a novel, a painting or some other source. Music based os. The Japanese composer Nobuo UematsuNobuo Uematsu ( ; Uematsu Nobuo (born March 21, 1959) is a Japanese composer of video game music, and one of the most well-known, prolific, and versatile in the field. He has composed music for the Final Fantasy series of games, and some of the pieces in used them in his soundtrack Final Fantasy VIFinal Fantasy VI (originally released in the US as Final Fantasy III is a video game originally released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Japanese Super Famicom by Squaresoft. Final Fantasy VI was re-released first for th where every character in the game had their own musical melody, or "theme". The RussianThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With composer Sergei ProkofievSergei Sergeevich Prokofiev ( April 23, 1891 March 5, 1953) was a Ukrainian composer. Biography Early years Prokofiev was born in Sontsovka (now the village of Krasne in Donetsk oblast), Ukraine, as an only child. His mother was a pianist and his father a made heavy use of leitmotifs in his work Peter and the Wolf, a musical story with narration; in it, each character is represented by a specific instrument in the orchestra, as well as an associated melodic theme.
They are also very common in movie scores; a well known example is the Star Wars Imperial March associated with Darth Vader and his previous self, Anakin Skywalker, in A New Hope and Attack of the Clones respectively. Among Westerns, perhaps the most famous film to make use of leitmotifs is Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. The television soap opera Dynasty also used musical themes for each character, as did the action cartoon .