this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2024
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Progressive metal is all about leitmotifs. Dream theater specially uses the technique to great effect. Like in Six degrees of inner turbulence or the meta album (each song in the album is in a different other album but construct a separate sequence) 12 step suite, about alcoholism.
Gawd I love Dream Theater.
I'll have to listen again but I don't recall 6doit having any recurring musical phrases that accompany characters or other ideas throughout the album. there is an overture at the beginning that introduces the songs.
It does, the overture doesn't only introduces later songs (through leitmotifs), it reuses them again for a reprise and a finale. Other examples include Metropolis part II: scenes from a memory, which is almost a musical, including characters, scenes and acts, and A change of seasons, where leitmotifs are not for characters but concepts.
yeah what I'm saying is I don't think that's really what a "leitmotif" is.
How is it not?. If anything, DT's instrumental use of leitmotif for composition is more classical and predates the crude and vulgar current interpretation of leitmotif="this character is on screen".
I don't think any of DTs recurring musical phrases are "associated with a particular person, place, or idea." Like there has to be more to it than recurrence to be considered a leitmotif. Recurrence in music happened a lot for various reasons before the idea of leitmotifs, so if you use the term generically to that extent it loses any meaning.
OK.