Although I dislike doing so, particularly as I've already agreed with him once already this week, I must concur with Thomas on his use of the word leitmotif rather than leitmotiv. Motiv may well be the German for motive (indeed my Langenscheidt tells me it is) but musically it is more accurate to use leitmotif when referring to recurring musical themes. Grove's defines it as:
(Ger.). 'Leading motif': a clearly defined theme or musical idea, representing or symbolizing a person, object, idea etc, which returns in its original or an altered form at appropriate points in a dramatic (mainly operatic) work. The term was coined by F.W. J„hns in 1871, but the device itself has a long ancestry. Its significance for Romantic opera was first appreciated by Weber, and Wagner elevated it to a position of paramount importance as a means of both symphonic development and dramatic allusion. Leitmotif was taken up by Wagner's disciples, including Cornelius and Humperdinck, and by other composers. Richard Strauss's use derives both from Wagner and from Liszt's technique of thematic metamorphosis.
So you see, you're all correct, really. Of course Thomas' threats of physical assault and abusive namecalling were entirely unacceptable. We can only have pity on him, knowing his obsessive desire to sing the role of Alberich in the opening scene of Das Rheingold. |
