Theme (music)

In music , a theme is the initial or primary melody . After the principal theme is announced, a second melody ,sometimes called a countertheme or secondary theme, may play. In a three-part fugue , the principal theme is announced three times in three different voices -- soprano , alto , bass -- or some variation of that. In a four-part fugue, the principal motif is announced four times. A motif is a short melodic figure used repeatedly which may be used toconstruct a theme. A leitmotif is a motif or theme associated with aperson, place, or idea.

Thematic changes and processes are often structurally important, andtheorists such as Rudolph Reti have created analysis from a purely thematicperspective. Fred Lerdahl describes thematic relations " associational " and thus outside hiscognitive based generative theory's scope of analysis.

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