Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Eat Your Heart Out, Richard Wagner!

Leitmotif City!  How much Richard Wagner music did Howard Shore listen to?  The Peter Jackson film version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (and the Lord of the Rings movies) is full of leitmotifs.  

Simply put, a leitmotif is a melody associated with a character, object, place, or event.  While Wagner did not invent it, he made it popular.  It helps to tell the story if there is some tune that is associated with something in the story.  If Wagner were to hear the soundtrack from Peter Jackson's LOTR and Hobbit films, he'd be in hog heaven.  He loved leitmotifs (see Anna Russel for more info).

What I am saying is that Howard Shore's music is full of leitmotifs, including ones from the LOTR trilogy.  We heard a new melody associated with the Dwarves, but there are also the old Ring and Shire motifs.  

Wagner would be pleased.  


 

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