That's Leitmotif you Philistine. Mit a "f", not a "v"!! Leitmotif Leitmotif Leitmotif!! Donnerwetter, penni, where is my trusty cudgel??
It has long been established that the drulmotif, while originally intended by the Great Composer, failed miserably in the initial execution at Bayreuth because of the immense difficulty of knocking out on stage the sort of leather-lunged Heldentenor arias required while effusively salivating at the same time. Not to mention the problem of the rusting of suit of armor costumes, and the danger of slippage and according need for repeated floor mopping during the scene changes, issues that were immediately raised by the horrified stage manager. And while true to Wagner's intent, the great tenor Lauritz Melchior attempted to rescuscitate the drulmotif early in this century, he was insufficiently copious and could no more than send the occasional hawker into the wings even on a good day.
Some of the more demonstrative motifs which remain with us to this day at the discretion of the stage director are the flattusmotif, evincing contempt for the hero's foe (in some productions substituted by the less offensive himbeermotif, himbeer being the German word for "raspberry"); the gaggenmotif, signifying disgust; and the schnorrenmotif, signifying that the hero is sleeping. |
