The Leitmotif
Before a character even appears, the music already tells you who's coming. A leitmotif is a short musical idea tied to a character, a place or an emotion, which returns and changes as the story develops. Richard Wagner's operas are the classic example (his Ring cycle, first performed complete in 1876, has dozens of motifs for characters and objects), and John Williams gives characters their own themes in Star Wars, like the Imperial March for Darth Vader; in Jaws (1975) just two notes mean the shark is near. Using motifs of our own, hear one four-note idea become heroic, sad and menacing, and a two-note danger motif speed up. Then write a motif for a character of your own. The first lesson of Stories in Music.
In this lesson you'll
- Know what a leitmotif is (a short musical idea tied to a character, place or emotion that returns and changes with the story) and its classic examples: Wagner's Ring cycle, Star Wars, Jaws.
- Hear one motif (our own C – G – E – C) in three faces: heroic (C major, loud, strong pulse), sad (E → E♭, C minor, slow, lesson 12) and menacing (low, G → G♭ too, C diminished: two minor thirds stacked), plus a new instrument colour and a two-note danger motif that speeds up (accelerando, lesson 39).
- Invent a three- or four-note motif for a character and play it heroic, sad and menacing; recognise by ear the face, the major or minor version, and the same motif versus a new one.
Music in this lesson
- The Ring cycleRichard Wagner · first performed complete 1876 (named only)
- Star Wars · the Imperial March (Darth Vader's theme)John Williams (copyrighted, named only)
- JawsJohn Williams · 1975 (copyrighted, named only)
Remember
A leitmotif is a short musical idea tied to a character, a place or an emotion; it returns again and again and changes as the story develops, like Wagner's dozens of motifs for characters and objects in the Ring cycle.
Hearing a motif triggers the memory of its character, even when they are not on screen, so the music tells the story ahead of the picture.
Change the harmony (major → minor → diminished), the tempo or the instrument and the motif shows how the character changes: one idea transformed, as in theme and variations (lesson 71), but every change tells the story.