Motif (music)

In Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, a four-note figure becomes the most important motif of the work, extended melodically and harmonically to provide the main theme of the first movement. Play^ⓘ

Motif from Machaut's Mass, notable for its length of seven notes.^[1]Play

In music, a motif (pronunciation)^ⓘ IPA: (/moʊˈtiːf/) or motive is a short musical idea,^[3]^[4] a salient recurring figure, musical fragment or succession of notes that has some special importance in or is characteristic of a composition. The motif is the smallest structural unit possessing thematic identity.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c White 1976, pp. 26–27.
^ White 1976, p. 30.
^ Drabkin, William (2001). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. Vol. 17. Stanley Sadie, John Tyrrell (2nd ed.). New York: Grove. pp. 227–228. ISBN 1-56159-239-0. OCLC 44391762.
^ Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Music and discourse : toward a semiology of music. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09136-6. OCLC 21524730.

[FOOTNOTEWhite197626–27-1] White 1976, pp. 26–27.

[FOOTNOTEWhite197630-2] White 1976, p. 30.

[3] Drabkin, William (2001). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. Vol. 17. Stanley Sadie, John Tyrrell (2nd ed.). New York: Grove. pp. 227–228. ISBN 1-56159-239-0. OCLC 44391762.

[4] Nattiez, Jean-Jacques (1990). Music and discourse : toward a semiology of music. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09136-6. OCLC 21524730.

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