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Opera singers

Leitmotif

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The German word Leitmotiv denotes a musical element that recurs in a piece of music to highlight or introduce something.  A musical leitmotif may be a melody or sound that plays before a character appears, especially in opera, but the term is also used more widely in German. In literature and art and even politics, a leitmotif is an important recurring passage which reflects, or reveals, the importance of the entity it refers to.

The German verb leiten means to lead, which gives rise to the prefix leit- meaning leading. The noun Motiv in German has the English meanings of  both motif and motive, and the letter ‘v’ in German is pronounced like the letter ‘f’ in English. As English already has the word motif in use to denote a recurring pattern or theme, particularly in the visual arts,  the German term Leitmotiv can be found used in English with either its original spelling or in the anglicised version leitmotif.