the.com/motif
a small idea that refuses to leave, so the whole work starts agreeing with it
music dnaBeethoven's Fifth built from four notes, repeated obsessively
french rootsfrom 'motif,' meaning motive or driving cause
wagner's trickleitmotifs assign characters their own recurring musical signature
woven wordoriginally meant a repeating pattern in textiles
scale-freeworks from a single tile to an entire symphony