Understanding the leitmotif : from Wagner to Hollywood film music / Matthew Bribitzer-Stull.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bribitzer-Stull, Matthew, 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Wagner, Richard, 1813-1883. Operas.

Wagner, Richard.

Leitmotif.

Motion picture music--History and criticism.

Motion picture music.

Program music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxiv, 331 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The musical leitmotif, having reached a point of particular forcefulness in the music of Richard Wagner, has remained a popular compositional device up to the present day. In this book, Matthew Bribitzer-Stull explores the background and development of the leitmotif, from Wagner to the Hollywood adaptations of The Lord of The Rings and the Harry Potter series. Analyzing both concert music and film music, Bribitzer-Stull explains what the leitmotif is and establishes it as the union of two aspects: the thematic and the associative. He goes on to show that Wagner's Ring cycle provides a leitmotivic paradigm, a model from which we can learn to better understand the leitmotif across style periods. Arguing for a renewed interest in the artistic merit of the leitmotif, Bribitzer-Stull reveals how uniting meaning, memory, and emotion in music can lead to a richer listening experience and a better understanding of dramatic music's enduring appeal.

Contents:

Cover; Half-title; Title page; Copyright information; Dedication; Table of contents; List of music examples; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgments; 1Introduction: the leitmotif problem; What is a leitmotif?; Leitmotifs are bifurcated in nature; Leitmotifs are developmental in nature; Leitmotifs participate in musical structure; A brief history of the leitmotif and its reception; The leitmotif problem; Part I Musical themes; 2 Motive, phrase, melody, and theme; Phrase and theme; Melody and theme; Motive and theme; Thematic function

3 Thematic development, thematic identity: musical themes and the prototype modelThematic development; The problem with names; The prototype; Part II Musical association; 4 The phenomenon of musical association; Expression; Signification and referentiality; Topic theory; Subjectivity; Associative themes: emotion, memory, and meaning; Associativity; Presentiment; Coincidence; Resonance; Recollection; 5 Piece specifics, cultural generics, and associative layering; Semiotics revisited; Music as symbolic; From piece specifics to cultural generics; Intertextuality

6 From Nibelheim to Hollywood: the associativity of harmonic progression""Tarnhelm"" progression as dramatic moment; ""Tarnhelm"" progression as theme; ""Tarnhelm"" progression as pervasive motive; Appendix: Some other associative examples of the ""Tarnhelm"" progression; Art music; Film music; Part III Leitmotifs in context; 7 The paradigm of Wagner's Ring; Wagner's thematic technique before The Ring; Thematic development in The Ring; Thematic Mutation; Change of Mode; Harmonic Corruption; Thematic Truncation; Thematic Fragmentation; Change of Texture; Thematic Evolution

Contextual ReinterpretationAssociative Transposition; Thematic Complexes; Thematic Irony; 8 Leitmotif in Western art music outside The Ring; The leitmotif in Wagner's later works; Leitmotif in the operas of other composers; Germany and Austria; France and England; Italy; Eastern Europe; Leitmotif in symphonic literature; Cantata and oratorio; Ballet; Song cycle; Theater music; Symphonic poem; 9 The modern-day leitmotif: associative themes in contemporary film music; The emergence of the leitmotivic film score; Art music and film music; Opera and film music; Wagner and film music

Thematic practice in the Hollywood film scoreThe first period of leitmotivic composition; The second period of leitmotivic composition; Analyzing the film score; Wagnerian thematic techniques in recent film music; Change of Mode; Harmonic Corruption; Harmonic Redemption; Thematic Complex; Thematic Truncation; Thematic Fragmentation; Thematic Evolution; Associative Transposition; Change of Texture; Thematic Irony; Long-range processes: a brief case study of Howard Shore's music for Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings films; Connections to The Lord of the Rings scores from The Hobbit

Works cited

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-29002-6

1-316-32404-4

1-316-31066-3

1-316-33072-9

1-316-32738-8

1-316-33406-6

1-316-32068-5

1-316-16167-6