Leitmotif

the listener is called to action with shrill trills and glissandos in the high strings and woodwinds, creating a sense of heightening anxiety. Conversely, when the main motive sounds, Wagner utilizes French horns, trombones, and trumpets to convey the entrance of the heroes. In doing this, Wagner shows the sweeping effects orchestration can have: “…instruments [can] create a mood and sway the emotions.” (Wright 106). Even though there is a battle of dissonance in the background, listeners can find solace in the consonant melody in the brass. In addition, Wagner capitalizes on the psychological power of volume in Ride of the Valkyries. As the piece progresses, the Valkyrie leitmotif crescendos, eventually reaching a fortissimo volume. Even as the dissonant harmonies grow louder and denser, the heroic leitmotif overpowers the “evil”…

The Great Gatsby, a novel By F. Scott Fitzgerald, is a love story embedded in Nick Carraways tale of life living in West Egg. Though the entire book is narrated by Nick, it is sometimes forgotten that he is present in certain scenes. As the story starts to play out the reader is able to see the importance of Nick’s role and how his eyes reveal the leitmotifs present. Not only does the amount of leitmotifs shown increase as the story develops but the significance of the leitmotifs also becomes…

Soundtracks enhance film. Music has a variety of impacts on film, and one of those impacts is emotional. Music helps evoke emotion. There are times in a movie where things are tense, sad, and moments where one can find comic relief, but music is essential in a movie. With a soundtrack a filmmaker has an easier time, manipulating the emotions of the audience. Leitmotifs can also be important depending on the film. A leitmotif is where each character in a film has their own set of music that…

which counterpoints the horrible images presented on the screen. As a mournful waltz with a melancholic vibe, the “Godfather Waltz” serves as a leitmotif for Don Vito Corleone. In The Godfather, the “Godfather Waltz” is repeatedly used throughout the film. In total, it is played sixteen times. For each scene, the theme continually modifies in terms of its tempo, a few notes and the musical instruments that are…

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer born in 1858 and is known to have put a considerable amount of thought into creating the mood and literary components of his librettos (Kamien, Roger Music An Appreciation p.280). Richard Wagner was a German composer born in 1813 to a theatrical family (Kamien, Roger Music An Appreciation p. 289). Both of these composers are famous for their operas and are from the Romanic Period. Their compositions, La Boheme and Die Walkure, share the characteristics of…

But the bass drum does speed up and slow down throughout the song. The song opens up with a five beat drum theme that reintroduces itself throughout the whole song. It becomes a harmony when it is also accompanied by a sci-fi beat, however, this beat is not as mysterious or eerie compared to Blurryface’s leitmotif. Instead it is there so it can help combine Blurryface’s leitmotif with the rest of the song. The drum theme acts as a bass for the whole song. It does pause during the first part of…

Opera has always been known for bringing the most drama into the theater, but in the beginning of the 1800’s opera was split into two separate categories, the bel canto and the Gesamtkunstwerk. The Italian Opera was always more popular as this is where opera began, but the bel canto somewhat altered what opera looked like. Bel Canto was characterized by one main singer, one voice that was most prominent. Instruments were used to create a background, they were to support the main voice,…

In John Steinbeck’s “The Pearl”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman “The Yellow Wallpaper” (TWY), both examine the idea of the difference in power between different people. Charlotte gives clues of this, by having the husband be dismissive toward his wife, and not taking Charlotte's opinion on what she thinks that would be the best treatment for herself. However, John Steinbeck shows this difference by having the pearl dealers and/or doctors hired people to try and take the pearl away from Kino, and…

portraying the human condition as Virginia Woolf. Jacob’s Room, her 1922 Modernist novel, encapsulates her passion. As Woolf’s first truly experimental novel, it rejects convention and aspires to invent methods that better illuminate life’s essence; to exemplify, the text’s innovative inclusion of leitmotifs defies tradition, yet it elucidates the obscure. The novel’s leitmotifs, ostensibly interspersed randomly, demonstrate identity’s fluidity and how it both impedes and enriches communication.…

Giacchino used a thick orchestration in the opening part with the balloons to play through the action. Giacchino used a vast amount of percussion and strings as the balloons were released to indicate a grand gesture of how many balloons this old man was able to construct within a short amount of time. Throughout the film the leitmotif of the waltz melody is played anytime Ellie is brought up or the house is thought of in a greater sense. The leitmotif also relates to the romance Ellie and…