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For the album by dredg, see Leitmotif (album). Dredg (commonly typeset as dredg) is an American progressive / Alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Los Gatos California. Leitmotif is Dredg 's first full-length album originally released on May 30, 1999.

A leitmotif (pronounced /ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf/) (also leitmotiv; lit. "leading motif") is a recurring musical theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. Music is an Art form in which the medium is Sound organized in Time. In Music, a theme is the initial or primary Melody. The Encyclopédie Fasquelle (Michel 1958–61 defines a theme as follows "Any The word has also been used by extension to mean any sort of recurring theme, whether in music, literature, or the life of a fictional character or a real person. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter

Although usually a short melody, it can also be a chord progression or even a simple rhythm. In Music, a melody (from Greek μελῳδία - melōidía, "singing chanting" also tune, voice, or This article describes musical chords in traditional Western styles A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence) is a series of chords played in order Rhythm (from Greek ῥυθμός - rhythmos, "any measured flow or movement symmetry" is the variation of the length and accentuation of 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, cinema, and video game music. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Video game music is any of the musical pieces or Soundtracks found in Video games History Early video game technology and computer chip music

The word itself has a mixed etymology, as a further meaning to the German word Motiv was borrowed in the 18th century from the French motif, meaning "motive" or "theme", while the German word Motiv itself can be traced back to the 16th century, meaning only "motive" (cf. Etymology is the study of the History of Words &mdash when they entered a language from what source and how their form and meaning have changed over time The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Latin motivus). Prefixing it with leit- (coming from the German leiten, "to lead"), produces Leitmotiv (German plural: Leitmotive), meaning "leading motif". Plural is a Grammatical number, typically referring to more than one of the Referent in the real world

Contents

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 motifs" can be identified, which may recur at a significant juncture in the plot to establish an association with earlier events. Etienne Henri (or Nicolas) Méhul ( June 22, 1763 - October 18, 1817) was a French Composer, "the Their use is however 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 . Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber ( 18 December 1786 in Eutin, Holstein, Germany - 5 June 1826 in London 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. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns ( 2 January 1809, Berlin – 8 August 1888, Berlin was a German music scholar voice teacher and composer Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Motives were also important in purely instrumental music of the time: the most famous example is the opening movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, whose central motif was said by Beethoven's friend and biographer Schindler to represent "fate knocking at the door". Ludwig van Beethoven ( English ˈlʊdvɪg væn ˈbeɪtoʊvən, 16 December 1770 &ndash 26 March 1827 was a German Composer and Pianist. Ludwig van Beethoven 's Symphony No 5 in C minor Op 67 was written in 1804–08 The related idea of the idée fixe was coined by Hector Berlioz in reference to his Symphonie Fantastique, a purely instrumental work that has a recurring melody representing the love of the central characters. An Episode in the Life of the Artist Opus 14 usually referred to by its subtitle Symphonie fantastique ( Fantasy Symphony) is

It is Richard Wagner, however, who is the composer most often associated with leitmotifs. His cycle of four operas, Der Ring des Nibelungen, uses dozens of leitmotifs, often relating to specific characters, things, or situations. Der Ring des Nibelungen ( The Ring of the Nibelung) is a cycle of four epic Music dramas by the German composer While some of these leitmotifs occur in only one of the operas, many occur throughout the entire cycle. 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", instead. The word was disputed 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". Baron Hans Paul von Wolzogen ( 13 November 1848 in Potsdam – 2 June 1938 in Bayreuth) was a German Man In it he 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. The resulting list of leitmotives attracted the ridicule of anti-Wagnerian critics and composers (such as Eduard Hanslick, Claude Debussy, or Igor Stravinsky). Eduard Hanslick ( September 11, 1825 – August 6, 1904) was a Bohemian Austrian writer on music Achille-Claude Debussy (aʃil klod dəbysi (August 22 1862 &ndash March 25 1918 was a French Composer. Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (Игорь Фёдорович Стравинский) ( &ndash 6 April 1971 was a Russian born Composer, considered by many to They identified it with Wagner's own approach to composing, and mocked the impression of a musical "address book" or list of "cloakroom numbers" it created. In fact Wagner himself never publicly named any of his leitmotives, preferring to emphasise their flexibility of association, role in the musical form, and emotional effect. The practice of naming leitmotives nevertheless continued in popularity throughout the last century, for instance in the work of prominent Wagnerian critics Ernest Newman and Deryck Cooke.

Since Wagner, the use of leitmotifs has been taken up by many other composers. A composer (literally meaning 'one who puts together' is a person who creates Music, usually in the medium of notation, for Interpretation and Performance Richard Strauss used the device in many of his operas and several of his symphonic poems. Richard Georg Strauss (11 June 1864 &ndash 8 September 1949 was a German Composer of the late Romantic era and early modern era particularly noted A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of Orchestral Music in one movement in which some extramusical program provides a narrative or illustrative element Despite being otherwise opposed to Wagner, Claude Debussy relied on leitmotifs in his opera Pelléas et Mélisande. The Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev 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. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев Sergéj Sergéjevič Prokófjev) ( - 5 March 1953 was a Russian composer who Peter and the Wolf is a composition by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1936 after his return to the Soviet Union. Other notable examples of leitmotifs are Aida's theme in Verdi's Aida and Scarpia's theme in Puccini's Tosca. This article is about the marketing term AIDA For other uses of the term see Aida (disambiguation. Tosca is an Opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Edgard Varèse reintroduced the idée fixe in his early orchestral works, notably Amériques and Arcana. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse Amériques is a musical composition by the French -born composer Edgard Varèse. Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony also uses leitmotifs, the main one featuring in every movement. The Manfred Symphony in B minor Op 58 is a programmatic Symphony composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky between May and September 1885

Movies, television, and video games

Leitmotifs are very common in movie scores; a well known example is the Star Wars Imperial March associated with Darth Vader in the Star Wars series of films composed by John Williams. The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars Films by composer John " The Imperial March ( Darth Vader 's Theme " is a Musical theme present in the Star Wars films Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader is a fictional character in George Lucas ' Science fiction saga Star Wars. Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist. Sometimes, a leitmotif of a main character is the same as the theme music of the movie or TV show. The phrase theme music usually refers to that of a radio program, Television program, or Movie.

Other examples of leitmotifs used in movies and television include:

Video games often make use of leitmotifs as well, especially role-playing games. A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. These games are of epic scale and length, which lends well to the use of recurring themes, and a soundtrack can have several hours of music with hundreds of different pieces, each drawing on the same leitmotifs in different keys or with different (often synthesized) instruments.

An early example is the Fat Man's score to The 7th Guest, in which each of the six main guests has their own theme (stated quite explicitly in the first sequence where they eneter one-by-one). George Alistair Sanger (born December 14, 1957, also known as "The Fat Man") is a Musician who has composed music for The 7th Guest, published in 1993 by Virgin Games, is a video -based puzzle Computer game, not unlike The Fool's

For example, the Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu uses leitmotifs in many of his video game soundtracks, including the Final Fantasy series, where many characters have their own recognizable musical theme. is a Japanese Video game music Composer and Musician, best known for scoring numerous Final Fantasy titles Many Final Fantasy games have recurring theme for chocobos, the primary means of ground transport throughout the series. Though each Final Fantasy story is independent many themes and elements of gameplay recur throughout the series In the Final Fantasy Tactics soundtrack, "Ovelia's Theme" is also drawn upon in "Ovelia's Worries", "For the Love of Ovelia", "Random Waltz", and the opening and ending credits. is a Tactical role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Sony PlayStation Video game console.

Another example of leitmotif in video games is Martin O'Donnell's score for the Halo series. Martin "Marty" O'Donnell is an American Composer known for his work on musical pieces for Video games from Bungie Studios such as the Halo is a Science fiction Video game franchise created by Bungie and owned and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The choir of monks that characterizes the music is commonly used throughout the games to personify and connect the alien environment. Different musical themes are also associated directly to recurring events and characters, distinguishing them from each other to tell the story more effectively. For example, parts of "The Last Spartan" from the Halo 2 Original Soundtrack: Volume One are used whenever the main character appears in a cinematic. The Halo 2 Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack for Bungie 's 2004 Video game Halo 2. A cut scene is a sequence in a Video game over which the player has little or no control often breaking up the gameplay and used to advance the plot present

Another example is from the Star Fox series of video games. The is a successful Video game franchise owned by Nintendo. The original game was a forward-scrolling 3D Sci-Fi Rail shooter. The main theme from Star Fox 64 is often used as a theme for the team itself and the song played during the boss fights with Star Wolf in the same game has been used as the theme for the Star Wolf team. known in Australia and Europe as Lylat Wars due to trademark issues, is a Scrolling shooter Video game for the Nintendo

Another good early example would be from the Mega Man classic series. Protoman 's appearance is always accompanied by a distinctive whistle. When Darkman is posing as him in Mega Man 5 , your first tip that it is not him is that his whistle is off key. This game is the game for the NES/Famicom. For the Game Boy game see Mega Man V (Game Boy Mega Man 5

Popular music

Perhaps the first extensive use of leitmotifs in rock music is found in Tommy, the "rock opera" performed by The Who and written, for the most part, by the band's principal songwriter Pete Townshend in 1969. Rock operas, Concept albums Song cycles and Oratorios all differ from a conventional rock album which usually includes songs that are unrelated to each The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964. The primary lineup consisted of guitarist Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (born 19 May 1945 in Chiswick, London) is an English rock Guitarist, Singer, Townshend intentionally used four leitmotifs in The Who's 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia to represent the four personalities of the album's fictional protagonist, Jimmy Cooper, a British youth with a multiple personality disorder. Quadrophenia is the sixth album by the English rock band The Who. The four leitmotifs are also meant to represent the four members of The Who.

American composer and musician Frank Zappa used a recurring theme throughout the album Uncle Meat by him and his band The Mothers of Invention, the 'Uncle Meat Main Theme' is first played in its entirety but then is played several other times throughout the album, most notably in 'The Uncle Meat Variations'. Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21 1940 – December 4 1993 was an American Composer, Electric guitarist Record producer and Film director Uncle Meat, released in 1969 is the soundtrack to The Mothers of Invention 's long-delayed film of the same name; the front cover designed by The Mothers of Invention was an American Rock and roll band active from 1964 to 1975

Pink Floyd uses leitmotifs throughout several of their albums, including The Wall, Wish You Were Here, The Dark Side of the Moon, and The Final Cut. Pink Floyd are The Wall is a Rock opera presented as a Double album by the English Progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released in late Wish You Were Here is a Concept album by Pink Floyd. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios between January and July 1975 and released on 15 September The Dark Side of the Moon (titled Dark Side of the Moon in the 1993 CD edition is a Concept album by the British Progressive

The New York progressive metal band Dream Theater is also known for using leitmotifs in their later albums, in particular Scenes From A Memory, Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, Octavarium and Systematic Chaos. Dream Theater is an American Progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name " Majesty " by John Myung, John Petrucci Metropolis Pt 2 Scenes from a Memory is the fifth studio album by American Progressive metal band Dream Theater, released in 1999 Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (often abbreviated to SDOIT or 6DOIT) is the sixth full-length studio Album by Progressive metal band Systematic Chaos is the ninth studio album by American Progressive metal band Dream Theater.

The American progressive metal band Symphony X used leitmotifs extensively in their concept album, V: The New Mythology Suite. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Symphony X is an American Heavy metal band from New Jersey founded in 1994 by guitarist Michael Romeo. V The New Mythology Suite, a Concept album, is the fifth studio album from Progressive metal band Symphony X.

The progressive rock band dredg named their first album Leitmotif, and, as the title suggests, leitmotifs are used extensively throughout the album. Progressive rock (often shortened to " progressive " " prog " or " prog rock " is a form of Rock music that evolved Dredg (commonly typeset as dredg) is an American progressive / Alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Los Gatos California. Leitmotif is Dredg 's first full-length album originally released on May 30, 1999.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails uses a leitmotif on the album The Downward Spiral. Trent Reznor (born Michael Trent Reznor on May 17 1965 is an American Musician, singer producer, and Multi-instrumentalist. The Downward Spiral (also known as Halo 8) is the third major release by American Industrial rock act Nine Inch The motif is used during the chorus of "Heresy," at the end of "Closer", and recurs on the album's title track.

American Hip-hop band Subtle use a recurring leitmotif throughout the For Hero: For Fool and ExitingARM albums, appearing on the clarinet, keyboard and guitar often at the end of, or in between, tracks. Subtle may refer to Subtle, a musical group consisting of members of the Anticon For Hero For Fool is the Subtle sextet's 2nd album on Lex Records. ExitingARM is the third full-length album from Oakland -based experimental hip-hop sextet Subtle, released by Lex Records on May 13

The main riff in the Queens of the Stone Age song Feel Good Hit of the Summer serves as a leitmotif for the album Rated R and makes an additional appearance on Rated R's follow up album Songs for the Deaf. Queens of the Stone Age (also known as QOTSA or simply Queens) are a rock band from Palm Desert, California, United States " Feel Good Hit of the Summer " is the second single from Queens of the Stone Age 's second album Rated R, 2000. Songs for the Deaf is the third Studio album by American Hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age.

Mike Oldfield often uses leitmotifs on his albums, in some cases even returning to the same themes used in one piece on another work not on the same album. Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician One notable example of this is a theme from Amarok which is heard throughout that album, turning up again as the basis for the track Let There Be Light on The Songs of Distant Earth. Amarok is the 13th record album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1990. The Songs of Distant Earth is the 15th Album by Mike Oldfield, released in 1994.

Literature

Leitmotif is also used in the Sirens chapter of Ulysses by James Joyce (chapter 11). Ulysses is a novel by James Joyce, first serialized in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920 James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the 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. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is a semi-autobiographical Novel by James Joyce, first serialized in The Egoist The themes of the Virgin Mary, the Greek myth of Stephen's namesake, Daedalus, are some of the more noticeable leitmotifs throughout the work. This article is about the mythological character For other uses see Daedalus (disambiguation. The leitmotif in this novel provides unity as the character of Stephen matures.

Other writers who have used the technique include Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Mann. Kurt Vonnegut Jr (November 11 1922 – April 11 2007 (ˈvɒnəgət was a prolific and genre-bending American Novelist known for works blending Satire, Black Paul Thomas Mann ( June Contemporary author Chuck Palahniuk also commonly utilizes leitmotifs in his work. Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (ˈpɑːlənɪk born February 21 1962) is an American Transgressional fiction Novelist

Leitmotif in literature also refers to the repeated representation of certain themes or emotions throughout a book, play, or other literary works. In literature, a Leitmotif is used as a recurring event, object or even a character that the story always makes reference to. In works with counterpoint, leitmotifs can become a figure of analysis in which the different stories constantly/eventually lead to.

Drama

Samuel Beckett, James Joyce's ex-secretary, uses Leitmotifs throughout his body of works, within his use of language in his plays and works of fiction. Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 &ndash 13 January 1941 was an Irish expatriate writer widely considered to be one of the most influential writers of the Beckett uses repetition a great deal and explores complex sentence structures, where he chooses to cut short a statement before its presumed conclusion, or the opposite can be the case with a stream of words running into each other with, in some cases no coherence, in others complete lucidity. Beckett uses "voices" as musical instruments travelling through the (specific) combined, language structure, repetitions and a gamut of emotions displayed in the text that cause changes in pitch and tone, unless the playwright has chosen a monotonous speech pattern as he does for particular characters in his plays.

Branding

Leitmotifs are used within advertising more commonly than ever before - most noticeably and notably by McDonald's participatory whistled motif that commands the secondary part (sung formerly and first by Justin Timberlake to launch the new 'I'm Lovin' It' campaign) of itself from the consumer. The subsequent part of the motif was intentionally omitted after an initial amount of exposure to invite consumer participation/reciprocation to finish it off.

Other Leitmotifs are used in conjunction with such brands as Intel, Herbal Essences and Danone.

Sources

  1. ^ "'Get her, mommy!' - A Review of Friday the 13th.".  
  2. ^ "Harry Manfredini Interview".  
  3. ^ Whedonesque.com Comments board. Retrieved on 2007-10-18. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid

See also

In Music, a motif or motive is a perceivable or salient recurring fragment or succession of notes that may be used to construct the entirety or parts In a Narrative, such as a novel or a film motifs are recurring structures contrasts or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes In art a motif is a repeated idea pattern image or theme Paisley designs are referred to as motifs

Dictionary

leitmotif

-noun

  1. (music) A melodic theme associated with a particular character, place, thing or idea in an opera.
  2. A recurring theme.
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