Let there be leitmotifs! 

I like how his whole body quakes with the notes he plays lol

wow You guys are deep into this. i've heard and played motif's but never knew the history or terminology! i love stuff like this!

Ah, RU-vid is terrific!! Thank you for posting this.

Actually, Hugh, it is EXACTLY like the theme to jaws. The duuuuuh-DUNT thing from Jaws stands for the presence of the danger and of a character (the shark). After all, the "theme" from Jaws is more like a motif than a theme. John Williams use of Leitmotif may be a bit ham-fisted, but it works the same as in Wagner...

Spot the mistake at 5:42 :P

I don't get it... if a leitmotif is a recurrent theme that is associated with a specific thing, person, place or idea, then why isn't the Jaws theme considered a leitmotif??? Isn't that also a recurrent theme associated with the shark?

Very good video. Thank you for uploading this.

@RustyBanks And where did John Williams get the theme to jaws? Listen to Dvorak's 9th symphony, beginning of the 4th movement. Recognize anything?

A leitmotif is a special type of theme explained in this video. Not all themes are leitmotifs.

Could you tell me the difference between "theme" and leitmotif? I thought a theme or recurrent theme was just a more colloquial way to say it.

Yes, indeed .

I believe Gluck is cerdited with writing the first leitmotifs for Opera, at least deliberately, maybe others (like Monteverdi) used them in a less systematic manner

@operamystery80 your last comment took the words out of my mouth except i was born a year later. so much for the 90's

"The hero is killed. The hero dies" Errr........

Why is that guy shaking like crazy when he is playing the leitmotifs?

@magiorey Indeed, he also made the precursors to what Wagnr called his musical dramas.

Check out wikipedia Strauss_in_Nazi_Germany regarding Strauss. It doesn't seem like he was really a Nazi. There also seems to be some controversy about von Karajan. See wikipedia Herbert_von_Karajan#Nazi_Party_membership

"using leitmotifs, which don't weigh as much as heavymotifs"

How is that relevant to what RustyBanks said? It is irrelevant if Wiliams got the inspiration from Dvorak, the Jaws theme is still a leitmotif.

does saying Wagner was a nazi make me an ignorant prick?

He didn't hide his distaste for Jews. So, I would say, that since he had an extremely anti-semitic opinion, you could consider him a 'nazi.' Maybe the hipster version of it; but since he died before the Nazi regime came about, he doesn't really fit into the category exactly.