leitmotif
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A conductor raises his baton as the orchestra plays the opera's famous leitmotif.
Definition
- Noun:
- A recurring musical theme: A short, distinctive melody or musical phrase that is consistently associated with a particular character, object, emotion, or idea within a larger musical work, especially an opera.
- A dominant and recurring theme: By extension, any recurring theme, idea, or element in a work of art, literature, or in a person's actions or life.
Usage Examples
- Noun (Musical Context):
- The composer used a dark, descending leitmotif to represent the villain.
- One of the most famous leitmotifs in opera is the "sword motif" from Wagner's Ring Cycle.
- Noun (Figurative/General Context):
- A leitmotif of her novels is the struggle for personal freedom.
- In his speeches, a constant leitmotif was the need for economic reform.
Advanced Usage
- "to serve as a leitmotif": To function as a recurring and identifying theme.
- The sound of the train whistle serves as a leitmotif throughout the film, symbolizing departure and change.
- "leitmotif of": Used to specify what the recurring theme represents.
- The leitmotif of betrayal runs through the entire political biography.
Variants and Related Words
- Leitmotiv: An alternative, less common spelling of the same word.
- Motif (noun): A decorative design or a recurring subject, theme, or idea. (A is a specific type of musical with an associative function).
- Theme (noun): The subject of a talk, piece of writing, or musical composition. (A is a recurring musical linked to a specific element).
Synonyms
- Recurring theme: A subject or idea that appears repeatedly.
- Idée fixe: (French, used in music) A fixed idea; a term for a recurring theme, similar to leitmotif.
- Signature tune: A melody associated with a particular person or program (less formal, more specific to media).
Related Phrases
- Musical signature: A distinctive musical phrase associated with a character or concept.
- The composer created a delicate musical signature for the heroine.
Related Idioms
- A running theme: An idea or subject that appears continuously throughout something.
- Environmental conservation is a running theme in the director's documentaries.
A conductor raises his baton as the orchestra plays the opera's famous leitmotif.
Noun
- a melodic phrase that accompanies the reappearance of a person or situation (as in Wagner's operas)