A leitmotif (also spelled leitmotiv) is a recurring musical theme, associated within a particular piece of music with a particular person, place or idea. (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".) It is usually a short melody, although they can also be chordprogressions or even 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 used other musical genres as well, such as in 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, has certain leitmotifs which occur in more than one opera, or even in all four. 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 critic 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 composers. Richard Strauss used the device in many of his operas and several of his symphonic poems. The Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu used them in his soundtrack "Final Fantasy VI" where every character in the game had their own musical melody, or "theme". 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.
They are also very common in movie scores; a well known example is the Star Wars Imperial March associated with Darth Vader in Star Wars. In Star Wars: Episode II, the Imperial March actually evolves as Anakin's character changes to Darth Vader. The first full sounding of the theme is after Anakin has killed the raiders who killed his mother. His fall to the dark side is echoed by the Imperial March. Among Westernss, perhaps the most famous film to make use of leitmotifs is Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West. The television soap operaDynasty also used musical themes for each character.
The word leitmotif has been used by extension to mean any sort of recurring theme, whether in music, literature, or the life of a fictional or even non-fictional person.
