#Prelude leitmotif

[homestuck-music-tournament]

Pondsquatter (Live Chamber Version)

Album: Genesis Frog (Bonus Track) Composer: Alex Rosetti Leitmotifs: Prelude, Pondsquatter, Frogs' Intermezzo, Great LOFAF Expedition, Breeding Duties Characters: N/A

[classicanalyzer]

Mysidia Leitmotif Analysis

"So armed with both the knowledge of the ancients, and the secrets of time...our ancestors settled upon an ambitious plan. They would create a new Mothercrystal, and enchant it that it might endure for all eternity. Thus would our people's wandering—our suffering—finally end, and prosperity visit us once more. And all it would require was the sacrifice of a single child. A small price to pay...or so they believed." Shula

The Rising Tide DLC introduces the Motes of Water, the tribe of the Eikon Leviathan. A people who lost their homeworld on southern Ash's coasts were persecuted by the Holy Empire of Sanbreque for not converting to the Greagorian church. Fleeing to the realm of Mysidia in the decaying Northern Territories, the Motes of Water devised a plan to restore their tribe to glory...at the cost of committing the gravest sin: sacrificing their child Dominant Waljas. Their sin results in the tribe's near destruction and is the source of Shula's, the Tributary of Mysidia, and her generation's desire to atone for their ancestors' sins. In the end, with the help of Clive, Shula and her people atone for the sins of their ancestors.

Mysidia's theme is one of the most beautiful, mesmerizing themes I've ever heard, especially Wist in Water. It reflects the isolated yet seemingly idyllic paradise where non-bearers and bearers live in harmony, compared to Valisthea's policy of enslaving and dehumanizing bearers. However, said paradise is underlined in the tragedy of sin that the Motes of Water had committed.

Our Mother's Sky introduces us to the pretty, blue skies of Mysidia, the last remnant of the Northern Territories unaffected by the Blight, and the title of the DLC. The short track's use of the piano and the orchestra helps set the tone of the DLC.

From Spire to Sea showcases the land of Mysidia, the Aires of Hours, and Waljas' prison with the giant frozen wave of water. Similar to Our Mother's Sky, it helps set up the pleasant vibes of Mysidia.

The Ceaseless Rill plays as the party ascends towards Mysidia. It is a great prelude to Wist in Water. The piano conveys the feeling of loneliness yet anticipation of Mysidia's beauty, and the guitar adds a great layer of musical charm to the piano.

Wist in Water is simply beyond beautiful. I regard the track as one of the masterpiece tracks of Soken and his team. It is also one of the best video game tracks I've heard. Pianos are the best way to immerse someone in a story and environment. Pianos stand out and they bring an elegant and highly adaptable soundscape. The pianos reflect the joy and wonder of exploring Mysidia. The way the piano ascends and descends over and over, along with the orchestra, reflects the joy of Mysidia in contrast to the rest of Valisthea.

Bid Time Return, the Aires of Hours theme, reflects the Northern Territories' pride with the undertones of the tragedy of the Motes of Water. The horn instruments really stand out in this track as it reflects the Northern Territories' former glory before their downfall. The orchestra reflects the modern state of the Aire of Hours, now a testament to the Motes of Water's ultimate sin. The orchestra, flutes, and drums kick in when the battle variant of the theme plays as we combat the FF staple creature, Tonberries, and other creatures who made the Aires of Hours their hunting grounds.

[frollodeathscene]

(little excerpt about hellfire's lyricism from the essay on religion in media I wrote for class)

‎

But there are times when the secular world of modern music and the powerful tradition of religious music intertwine and create something, both removed from, and nonexistent without, the sacred.

Committed to their image as a clean, family-friendly media conglomerate, Disney has long put to rest its raunchier subject material. No more drinking, no more smoking, no more violence. Every movie is smoothed into an edgeless ball of mediocrity, devoid of anything deemed even mildly offensive, all in an attempt to appeal to every demographic possible. Every song is designed to be an earworm, and most don’t mean to convey anything but a desire to sell dolls and CDs.

Then, there was that one time where they adapted one of the most infamous pieces of gothic literature into a movie for children.

Walt Disney Studios’ take on The Hunchback of Notre Dame remains one of my favorites. For as much as people dislike its darkness and lack of child-friendly themes, for as many stories I’ve heard of parents pulling their children out of the theater during its initial release, I will never stop believing that it’s the best in Disney’s repertoire.

And, of course, what would The Hunchback of Notre Dame be without Hellfire?

Including its prelude and thematic opposite (Heaven’s Light, which I will not include in this essay as I fear the length already), Hellfire, at just five minutes and twenty two seconds, stands of one of the most memorable moments in musical history. It is, in my own opinion, the crowning jewel of the film and encapsulates every aspect of what makes Hunchback so controversially masterful.

There is no doubt that Hellfire- and the film as a whole- are indirect forms of religious expression. Devoid of the usual pandering and ingratiating aspects of Christian animated media, it not only succeeds in displaying the benevolent, hopeful side of religion, but excels in its evils as well.

As the dreamy, soft-edged melody of Heaven’s Light fades into the sound of church bells, the song is taken from a gentle allegory of love as paradise to the echoes of Latin chants against stone walls. Here, the hopefulness of Quasimodo’s ballad is sent through a hazy mist of prayers and resurfaces in a rising anxiety.

Claude Frollo (originally an archdeacon, but a judge in this particular version) begins his own song by beseeching Mary. To confront the holy virgin, the sinless mother of God herself, with his temptations, to turn to an immortal woman as an escape from one of flesh and blood. He denies, and then he bargains, and then he denies again. Frollo’s cognitive dissonance from the image of superiority he projects onto others versus his struggles with the moral inferiority he feels within himself, which have been building since the very first minutes of the film, reach their narrative peak here as he ultimately refuses himself capable of sin.

His obsession with his own damnation and his deflection of personal responsibility chase him throughout the song as he faces an imaginary court of hooded monks. The echoes of Latin- the language of Catholicism, as if the church itself is judging him- counteract every desperate claim he makes: “It’s not my fault // (mea culpa)”, which directly translates to “my fault”.

Even the symbolism of fire itself is a double-edged sword. In the context of Christianity, fire both represents pain, suffering in Hell- and cleansing, purification. Frollo’s own struggle with sin, as represented by fire, is complimented by a desire to purify himself of his lust by burning its source. In a literal and figurative sense, he weaponizes his own fear against others- he both resents AND wields the very thing that destroys him. After all, whether fire is hellish or purifying, it still burns.

The song closes with Frollo’s leitmotif, a chorus of “Kyrie Eleison”, an older Greek prayer that roughly translates to “Lord Have Mercy”, and he collapses.

Hellfire, fraught with heavy symbolism, intertwined with such a controversial character, not only represents Catholicism, but some of its darkest consequences as well. A pure revelation of the sacred through creation.

[7grandmel]

Rip of the Week: 01/07/2024

Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom

Season 8 Featured on: The Joke​-​Explainer 7000​™​'s Highest Quality Rips: Sunrise

Ripped by Madinstance

Tentative rip name: KNUCKLES (Smaragdwächter)

I pondered long and hard about this post, of what rip to make it about - I'm sort of back in the groove of things after my break, and I'm happy to see people are enjoying the graudally-increasing trickle of variety posts already, but I also feel as if I'm still regaining my footing in how to pick these rips for the blog. Alas, amidst all the requests and the all-time classics, I do inevitably hold recency bias close to my heart - bias you've already seen with rips like Last Freight-train Night, and that rears its head once again with Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom. Because no matter what happens to me or the blog, I am but merely a Sonic fan, an Undertale enjoyer, and an absolute CONNOISSEUR for Madinstance's work. The madlad's done it again.

Like, look - I've featured the guy so many times before, I've featured Undertale music on here so many times more than even that, blah blah, blah blah...can you sincerely blame me for picking this one? Madinstance has been featured on here plenty for their incredible arrangements like M-O-O-G City and Thwâmpröck Desert, and I've always sort of taken them as the kind of ripper who puts their heart and soul into rips of games and music that they genuinely just care tons about, most evident with their Minecraft tributes like Fell From a High Place (Reprise). But lately it feels as if that view may have been wrong - or Madinstance is just growing as a ripper to where they're becoming willing to take on any arranging project so long as it sounds cool. Honestly though, I can't blame them with a concept as sick as this - meshing together prototype Carnival music from a Genesis Sonic game with Undertale boss music is the kind of lunatic concept that I don't know how one comes up with but also wouldn't be able to help myself to pursue.

There have been a lot of times where I've worried that I've covered too *much* Undertale music for the blog...but the more I sit on it, the more I realize just how core Undertale's music is to both SiIva's viewers and its rippers. Undertale blew up just a short few months before the SiIvaGunner channel itself did, and its fans have thus grown in almost direct parallel with SiIvaGunner's own fans - and on top of that, Toby Fox is the exact kind of online meme freak that SiIvaGunner itself attracts the most. Is it any surprise that we've had banging Undertale arrangements on SiIva like Hoopache, SUNGORE, and indeed Madinstance's very own Fell From a High Place (Reprise), since the very beginning of the channel, from just about every one of the team's rippers? Undertale is endlessly beloved, and moreover - endlessly versatile for arrangements, its leitmotifs and melodies so well known as to becoming a series of online anthems all in their own rights.

Compared to the more popular tunes like Megalovania and Death By Glamour, it feels as if ASGORE doesn't get as much attention from remixers and rippers. And perhaps that was part of what made me fall head over heels in love with Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom right from the moment go - it shows such a profound respect and understanding for not just the original ASGORE theme, but the iconic Bergentrückung prelude that introduces the battle, here weaving the two together damn seamlessly in the rip's intro. It's immensely impressive just how atmospheric and intense the rip still sounds despite, again, it's baseline track being the borderline juvenile carnival music used in Sonic 3's recently-unearthed prototype versions, a series of cheerful clapping samples introducing the track yet never overriding the emotional sincerity of the melody leading the rip. I feel like the emotion in large part also just comes from how fucking cool of a sound Sonic 3's music in general has, a lead synth that sounds unlike anything else on the genesis playing a sort of melodic back-and-fourth with a second synth lead that sounds just as distinct yet far more chipper and bright, almost reminding me of something from Rivals of Aether...? The back-and-fourth feel is an amazing touch either way, is the point!

Barreltr​ü​ckung of Doom's final touch, of course, comes toward the finale, the section in which the original ASGORE battle theme takes a step back from its intensity to reflect, a calm in the midst of the storm. Madinstance brilliantly uses this interlude to throw a complete curveball that still fits the arrangement perfectly: using samples and sounds from the *finalized* Carnival Night Zone theme, the one created by Michael Jackson's soundteam, and featuring that distinct glass shattering sample from Jam. I talk about escalation in rips a fair bit on here, but it wasn't as it the rip was in any need of it here anyway given how amazing the arrangement already was. It's just the sort of thing that pushes the rip from great to godlike, the kind of touch you'd mainly expect to see from a Sonic the Hedgehog superfan committed to their rip, akin to what MtH did with Youkoso Twinkle Park e. But again - perhaps, somehow, I've underestimated just how far Madinstance will go once they've landed on a concept they truly click with. Season 8 may well be the silly season in many ways, but it's all too clear that each one of the team's rippers are growing more powerful by the day.

[stonegearstudios]

Theme of Adventure

Ok, so this is probably only exciting for me, but I comm'd a theme for Teak from a fellow SD discord member Kate

She actually created a leitmotif for them specifically, and then a first stab at a tune for the opening area for a hypothetical N64 Zelda style game.

So as a refresher, this is Teak

as a wooden construct they are animated by an arrangement of silver strings inside their chest cavity (you can see a little hatch to it). Life was literally given to them by plucking a resonant sequence into them, that would continue to vibrate forevermore.

That is what the Leitmotif is supposed to represent, their core foundation. Curious, somewhat naive, a prelude to adventure.

It's woven into the short piece to represent that the opening area in this hypothetical game is their origin, but that piece is also meant to represent the area itself, what I'm currently calling the Crumbling Mansion.

In short, it's a massive, but slowly decaying stone and wood mansion located deep in a dark wood. Who exactly built it is unclear, but they did leave behind several constructs, constructs like Teak, who have turned the building into a village of sorts.

They aren't the only inhabitants though, as the Mansion crumbles, holes open in the walls, and all manner of strange forest life has begun to take root there.

Anyway, no one cares about this but me, but I am excited XD

[lesbianfakir]

hey quick question my good dude, I'm putting together something and u need to know, I have kindq searched all the wiki and have not found anything on Fakir's leitmotif

do you happen to know what it is or am I relegated to adding generalized Tutu songs?

Yay you’ve come to the right place!! This post has links to the songs plus analysis, might be helpful.

Tldr version: fakir’s official theme is Beethoven’s coriolan overture it plays when he’s fighting or otherwise being a bastard. Then you’ve got an excerpt from Scheherazade, this one is more for his chiller moments, like writing and building his relationship with duck. Finally, we have a prelude from Lohengrin (same name as his sword). This one only plays once so you’re going to have a hard time finding a leitmotif but it plays at a super crucial moment (fighting kraehe in the season 1 finale) so I figure it counts.

Lmk if you want help isolating the specific leitmotifs from these songs!! I would do it here but I don’t have headphones with me rn. Hope this is helpful, and you are so so welcome to ask more questions

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Always Two There Are”

Getting reeeeeaaaal spooky up in here all of a sudden and also say hello to one of my favorite bad bitches.

We open with Phoenix Squad still traveling idly through realspace in search of a permanent base.

This is a deceptively pretty shot.  Like:

“Hi. :)  Nothing bad is going to happen this episode. :)  See how bright the sun is?  Things are fine. :)”

Rex has already been integrated as a crew member it seems, as he’s quite contentedly playing dejarik with Zeb.

Chopper must have been irritating Ezra and Kanan really badly that week, Kanan doesn’t even really bat an eye at Ezra asking to drop him if he manages to levitate him, lol.

“Shenanigans” leitmotif in flute as Sabine decides it’d be really funny to play a little prank on Ezra, advising Chopper to magnetically clamp himself to the deck, which Rex notices.  And then as expected the Force Theme prelude.

Devilish little bean.

She’s not doing this to be mean, I think, just poking a bit of fun at him, akin to her punching his shoulder back in “Visions of Hope”.

Ezra’s a bit too frustrated by [*gestures to Kanan and Rex’s... everything*] to really appreciate it, with good reason, as no sooner has he complained than Rex stands up all, “Well MY Jedi was--” immediately offending Kanan.

Help him he looks so tired and done.

And Sabine shaking her head in the background there and quickly vacating the chair, wow everyone pretty much bailed on listening to Round #234 didn’t they?  Lol.

Kanan’s annoyed, “Ezra!” as Ezra disappears up the ladder, ha ha.

Ironically, if Ezra hadn’t volunteered himself for the mission and come along, it probably would have gone completely uneventfully.  It was Ezra’s presence on the station that Fifth sensed, and Seventh’s probe probably reported him specifically to her too.

Whoops.

I do have to wonder if this episode was specifically timed for Halloween because it makes an excellent Halloween episode.

Creepy abandoned location?  Check.  Ominous music?  Check.  Killers hiding in the dark?  Check.

My gosh look at the dust falling off the old doors there.  Or maybe that’s ice, Zeb and Ezra’s breaths are also visibly puffing as if it’s cold.

The approach to the station is completely silent, music-wise.  Once we’re inside we get a soft cue full of long eerie strings and plunking music-box-like chimes from several different scale xylophones.

This tilting Dutch-angle shots used throughout are not dissuading the horror movie vibes by the way.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: How Ezra and Sabine both look down and step carefully, watching their feet as they avoid debris on the floor.

A biased shipper note: Ezra’s comfortable enough to get Sabine’s attention with a hand on her shoulder.  Under normal circumstances she probably wouldn’t be this jumpy about it. XD

Ah yep, I was right, the ID9 Seeker doesn’t transmit to Seventh until after it’s seen Ezra.

Chopper turns on ALL the lights ha ha.  He knows when he’s in a horror movie.

This scene with Fifth, Kallus, and Konstantine on the Star Destroyer plays out almost beat for beat like the “Vader senses Luke on Hoth scene” from Empire.  And you know what it just occurred to me that Vader specifically called Konstantine to pick Fifth up last episode, and also gave him his own personal shuttle.  (Which he’s going to use to jet off this Star Destroyer to the target.)

I guess we know which one’s Vader’s favorite lol.

Always love when Jedi use their sabers as flashlights.

For a bit of levity, the music and banter turns playful, Zeb and Ezra arguing about who’s going to find the medical supplies first.  (While they all completely miss the room the crates are in.)

He’s a dumbass and I love him Your Honor.

In the meantime, Chopper gets jumpscared and ambushed by the ID9 Seeker droid, who uses Choppers voicebox to call for help.  It’s actually really sweet that Ezra’s been learning binary in order to better understand Chopper.

Lotta casual touching in this episode I didn’t really notice before.  It’s cute.

Zeb getting stuck in the vent will never not be hilarious.

“Okay, that’s uncomfortable.” <3

What a gentleman. <3

You can baaaaarely make out Seventh in the shadows of this shot.  Her intro is almost casual at first, she just saunters up into view completely unbothered.

AND THEN THE RED LIGHTSABER IGNITES AND WE ARE ALL LIKE, “OH SHIT, THERE’S TWO.”

Yeah, that’s the appropriate reaction.

A little moment of battle tag-teaming for Ezra and Sabine here as the background music swells with rapid tinny percussion beats and an eerie woman’s voice like a siren song.

Ezra fares little better in his brief skirmish with Seventh Sister than he did against the Grand Inquisitor, though his stance is a bit improved.  But the two teens are soon booking it as fast as they can away from her.

ONLY TO RUN RIGHT INTO THIS NIGHTMARE RIGHT HERE.

Again, the appropriate reaction.  Lol.

The bass booms of the Inquisitor theme enter along with Fifth and the siren wail gets louder as Seventh slooooooowly strolls after them.  (After paying a brief, “Oh it’s you.” glance at Fifth)

I love how she’s not even worried her prey will escape; It makes her even scarier, that she doesn’t feel like she even has to expend the energy to catch you.

They come up against a locked door and Ezra moves to cover and defend Sabine as she frantically works at the panel.

She gets it open, they turn to run through, but Seventh catches Ezra in a Force Grip, freezing him in place, and her ID9 Seekers grab hold of his ankles and start dragging him back towards her along the floor.

Yeah that’s not terrifying.

Sabine whips around, horrified, immediately trying to run back.  Ezra can practically feel Seventh bearing down on him now and pulls a move straight from Kanan’s lexicon, yelling for Sabine to run before stabbing his saber through the door controls and sacrificing himself for her escape.

LIKE MASTER LIKE PADAWAN.  *SOBS*

ALSO CAN I APPRECIATE SABINE COMING UP AGAINST THE DOOR FUTILELY, YELLING HIS NAME?

(Trick question, I’m going to whether I get permission or not I love this moment.  Ezra doesn’t even hesitate, he knows he’s caught but he’s going to make sure he protects Sabine, even as she desperately tries to get back to him.  Shut up, don’t look at me.)

Seventh Sister very quickly establishes that she’s the brains to Fifth Brother’s brawn, preventing Fifth from killing Ezra outright and planning to use him to lure in the other two.

Excuse me, MA’AM, that is unwarranted proximity.

Subtle animation appreciation moment: The way Seventh’s nails make small indents and depressions in Ezra’s skin, showing off how scarily sharp they are.

Also Sabine hopping over debris in the hallway here.

“I don’t wanna die this way... I’m the last of my kind!”  LOLOLOL I’M SORRY I KNOW THIS IS A SERIOUS SITUATION BUT THAT LINE KILLS ME.

Zeb immediately snapping into protective big brother mode. <3

I love the way Seventh moves, she’s so slinky and catlike.

Ezra plays a very defiant captive, using his trademark snark and sarcasm as a shield.  The music for this whole scene has gone back to the muted scraping strings, dragging on high notes like nails on a chalkboard.

Fifth tanks Zeb and Sabine’s ambush attempt but then makes the mistake of leaving Zeb alive, letting Seventh’s ID9s take care of him instead.  He’s not the brightest.

Still scary how tiny Sabine is over his shoulder though.

Back with Seventh and Ezra and Seventh has graduated from asking questions to inflicting a bit of mild torture.

And she continues to be inappropriately touchy with him.

Yeah this whole episode basically activates the entirety of my gremlin brain, there’s so much quality peril and whump.

Seventh casually reveals the Inquisitorius knows about Ahsoka and that and the “As pretty as you are...” comment are the first things that really shake Ezra.

I do like how Zeb not really understanding Chopper when he recovers him motivates him to start learning Binary too, offscreen, and he’s learned enough to start to parse Chopper by “Future of the Force”.

Fifth brings Sabine in, much to Ezra’s dismay, and Seventh gets very quickly irritated.  Despite her demands and her previous threats to dismember Ezra, he doesn’t budge.

This is very pretty lighting on the two.  The red isn’t quite as harsh as you’d expect.  Side note.

Lotta silent eye communication as they process Zeb’s ruse. <3

Sabine tries to warn Zeb away but Fifth puts his saber at her throat and Ezra immediately rushes to comply, which will not be the last time that threatening Sabine gets him to surrender.

(Watch how his head starts forward here.)

(His eye movement is rapid and darting.)

<33333333

Oh sue me, I’m a big ol’ sap.

Seventh gleefully talking about killing Ezra and Sabine “very slowly.” ughghhh she’s so creepy.

Zeb coming in with a flurry of action music and blaster shots to save the day.

And this is why you should never have a plan that involves teamwork, Inquisitors, because y’all suck at it.

See, this is how it works. :)

Hera with her feet up on the chair like that ha ha.

Kanan was so ready to scold Ezra and then Ezra mentioned Inquisitors, plural, and he and Hera are immediately on their feet and twitching like worried parents.

Kanan’s struck speechless and can’t even answer Zeb, because he didn’t know, he didn’t know there was more than one Inquisitor, half his team could have gotten killed, his padawan could have been killed just because he got annoyed with the bickering and left.

Hera jumping in with supportive touches all around. <3

I love this embrace.  It’s just such married body language.

But ouch what a way to end an episode.  The Imperial March closes us out, slow and heavy, portending doom.

Soooooo yeah, I pretty much love this episode to pieces, it’s a frequent rewatch.  Introduces us to our new weekly low-level antagonists (who while not as strong or charismatic as Grand have enough significant presence and threat to be interesting to me), continues the Kanan-Rex tension and drama, has some of my favorite Sabezra interaction, and splashes us with the cold reality after the previous fun episodes that things are more serious now, the threat is bigger and expanding.  Uncharted territory lies ahead and here there be monsters.

Next couple episodes are more Friendship Fetch Quests.  I haven’t rewatched them in a while so we’ll see if I find any new appreciation for them.

[windienine]

soul tether is my favorite song in the prelude; a lot of the songs have fun melodies and instrumentations but soul tether is the only one that has ysme's little six-note leitmotif getting key shifted, finagled around, and played on the same lonely-sounding flute as loic's theme.

is it loic faithfully repeating her words in his own voice, or ysme's tune literally changing as she considers his perspective more carefully and shifts her own in time?

right before that, loic's theme is played on a more confident-sounding acoustic guitar, as though to emphasize a newfound purpose. like him in the scene itself, it's a very serene and collected sound, while the second half sounds almost like it's trying to question the first, much like ysme.

light and hunger is the obvious awesome showstopper that breaks a lot of your expectations for what the game's music will sound like in the first place, snowfall does some really interesting melodic bits with the game's title/primary theme, normal theme for a normal woman is prime sillygirl hours and gets stuck in my head the most often, and sunflowers and sage invocation do so much to expand on loic's character in the music alone...

but man. soul tether.

[miloutic]

just found out that jenova's leitmotif is present in the prelude. what the hell

[spectral-muse]

omg I know we don’t like Wagner (and for good reason) but anyone who likes the use of leitmotif in modern media scores please please PLEASE look into the prelude to Tristan und Isolde, bro is weaving like 6 different leitmotifs at once into a beautiful, ethereal tapestry representing how they evolve on the narrative of the opera (erm, “”””music drama””””), it’s so beautiful

leitmotifs never get old to me like holy shit dude there’s this melody that corresponds to this one guy and if you hear the melody it means the guy is there. holy shit. and sometimes it refers to ideas too not just guys. has anyone heard about this

[mediciunicorn]

Das Rheingold, Meditations on Wagner's Vorabende

To begin this journal, let us briefly discuss the history and impact of Richard Wagner. Richard Wagner—love him or hate him—is practically unavoidable in music history because of his revolutionary work. His influence on music history is profound; among other achievements, he may have single-handedly challenged the tonal system (or at least tried to), incorporating so many chords and notes from outside the expected major and minor keys that audiences must rely on his leitmotifs for orientation. From a compositional point of view, Wagner left future composers unsure of what boundaries remained to be pushed. He expanded the size of the orchestra and the demands placed on singers to the very limit of human capability. Indeed, it is simply a statement of fact that only some opera singers possess the physical stamina and vocal power to perform as Wagner’s music requires. These extraordinary demands become most evident in the music he composed for the Ring cycle.

The core orchestration for the Ring cycle includes one piccolo, three flutes, three oboes, one cor anglais, three soprano clarinets, one bass clarinet, three bassoons, eight horns, three trumpets, one bass trumpet, three tenor trombones, one contrabass trombone, one contrabass tuba, and a four-timpani percussion section with triangle, cymbals, tam-tam, six harps, 16 first violins, 16 second violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, and eight double basses. Wagner wrote Das Rheingold (the first evening of the cycle, or “Vorabend”) with a greatly enlarged orchestra, even adding an offstage harp and 18 offstage anvils.

Wagner is the composer from whom all modern soundtracks arguably descend. He “invented” the systematic use of leitmotifs—he called them “guides to feeling”—and viewed them as analogous to the ancient Greek chorus, offering emotional commentary to the action on stage. Through these leitmotifs, the audience understands the emotional development of the scene nonverbally, grasping subtle shifts in emotion, character, and action. These leitmotifs, centered on recurring patterns, themes, and harmonic progressions, represent actions, objects, emotions, characters, and other dramatic subjects. Wagner’s liberal use of chromatically altered chords may well have inspired Arnold Schoenberg’s revolutionary move toward atonality.

Wagner was influenced by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, who, in turn, affected Wagner’s views on history, myth, and German nationalism. Wagner’s obsession with Germanic myth finds its fullest voice in the Ring cycle. Das Rheingold, the prelude to the cycle, opens in the depths of the Rhine river. The first three characters are the three Rhine maidens, charged with guarding the precious gold in the Rhine. Essentially, Wagner begins his “Vorabend” in a German river, with German guardians protecting a German treasure. The thematic purpose of the Ring cycle is to establish a German-centric mythos, and the opening of Das Rheingold thrusts that message directly at the audience.

Das Rheingold opens an epic cycle drawn from legendary sagas found in the Nibelungenlied. Wagner referred to the Ring as a “Bühnenfestspiel” (stage festival play), and it unfolds over three days and a preliminary evening to encompass the full dramatic journey. Spanning four performances and about 15 hours, Wagner’s story imitates the structure of Greek drama—three tragedies and one satyr play—but he freed it from traditional operatic structures like arias and choral numbers. In Das Rheingold, no chorus exists; its role is taken by the leitmotifs. This opera holds a special place in the cycle, as it sets the stage for the gods’ dramatic struggles that follow.

Several prominent themes appear in Das Rheingold. Nature in its entirety is represented by the Rhine. Alberich, the loathsome dwarf, symbolizes a base, unrestrained form of desire. The gods, too, are morally compromised, particularly Wotan, who trades away his daughter’s freedom. Wotan, the one meant to establish order, seeks to build a “heaven” but must do so through deals that bring “hell.” Wagner’s world is not a pleasant one. The heroes must struggle mightily, and their own desires are questionable as they vie to obtain the ring.

Leitmotifs address three key tensions Wagner faced as he strove to create his own form of opera. They provide a method of unifying verse with melody; they form a natural alternative structural element to the disconnectedness that arias would otherwise introduce; and they provide an organic means of organizing the opera’s development and modulation. Additionally, leitmotifs serve as musical cues linking emotions, actions, and concepts without requiring the audience to consciously articulate them. Thus, leitmotifs unify the work while allowing for free variation.

As I watched Das Rheingold, I noted several motifs. There seems to be a “genesis” or “nature” motif that opens the opera, set at a slow tempo, symbolizing the beginning of the world. Bassoons and trumpets introduce this idea. There is a gold/treasure motif that initially descends before it ascends, sounding dark and tense; the trumpets and violins combine to convey this stress and importance. The Rhinemaidens’ pleasure in the gold is represented by a separate motif, played by the strings, which is lighthearted and carefree. Contrastingly, the motif associated with the gold’s magical power, contingent upon renouncing love, is dark, descending, and instrumented by cellos and basses—fitting, since a world without love is indeed dark.

I greatly enjoyed Das Rheingold. I found Wagner’s attempt to create a complete German mythos reminiscent of J.R.R. Tolkien’s effort to fashion a British mythology in The Lord of the Rings. Both revolve around a ring cursed to doom its bearer, involve a heroic journey to obtain or destroy it, and feature a pantheon of supernatural beings inhabiting a dramatic, epic space where spiritual and material realms collide. Yet Tolkien’s story offers hope—a light at the end of the tunnel—making it ultimately more uplifting. Wagner’s world, by contrast, is one of relentless struggle and futility. I would watch Das Rheingold, and indeed the entire Ring cycle, only through a lens that acknowledges eternal truth and rejects the hopelessness Wagner’s narrative seems to suggest.

[homestuck-music-tournament]

The Prelude

Album: Sburb Composer: James Dever Leitmotifs: Homestuck Characters: N/A

[slapjacq]

*comes out of the woodwork disheveled, with massive fucking bags under my eyes*

I’ve heard Da Capo five times now (circa April 20th, 2025) and since the intermediary episodes aren’t technically legit episodes for the season, I’m locking in my answers for this finale season.

I will be posting this when Da Capo drops.

Buckle up because we got a lot to cover.

Within the themes of understanding the entire scope of the show, with the episode taking us back to the premise of Malevolent. The fact that the Manager wiped Arthur’s memory, and not the King IS FUCKING MASSIVE. The Manager knew what he was doing, and he hints as to WHY HEAVILY. The Manager wants Kayne gone, I can’t really put my finger as to why, because I don’t think it’s just because Kayne is just a fucking murderous freak. That’s a WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY that we’ll get to, probably at one point mid season.

There are three very important things that we learned:

1. The Manager wiped Jarthur’s memory, and the Waylay is essentially is his domain. He has a SIGNIFICANT amount of power and knowledge at his fingertips.

2. Someone is trailing behind Jarthur, which is obviously presented as an absolute demolition of the 4th wall (I can’t even lie, the Manager talking directly to the patreons and other audience participants scared the piss out of me)

3. Chekovs lighter. the fucking lighter is what has been keeping everything together. This one is glue that holds this entire theory together.

From the top, we need to discuss the function of the bridging episodes thus far. Looking at Coda, Prelude, and Intermezzo all with full, finished seasons following said episodes, I have come to the conclusion that not only do these episodes set a stage for the upcoming season, but also set the theme of the entire season. Which also goes with my theory that season 1-3 is one musical piece, 3-6 being another. Calling it a story would feel like a disservice to the themes set up, especially since discussions of music is so, so common. ESPECIALLY in da capo, but again I digress.

Coda, was a do over between the KIY and Arthur, the signal that Arthur’s character was about to be decimated and built back up all over.

Prelude was an introduction to issues and problems that we would encounter within the next 3 seasons, which specifically supports my theory of s4 being the preliminary season to whatever comes next. A prelude for the uninitiated, is an introductory piece of music, specifically the FIRST piece of music you hear before you get into the meat of everything. It’s where leitmotifs, time signatures, what key the piece will return to at certain points, etc.

Intermezzo, is what connects two pieces in a musical or dramatic piece. It’s usually a solo, too. This is one of the reasons why I think we go through so many characters this season, and why Arthur and John are just bing bonging back and forth between a bajillion things. The season is their first real season where they are on the same page, with the same purpose, which takes president over EVERYTHING ELSE. Arthur being the vehicle, John being the passenger- they and their mission are the only things that actually matter here at the end of the day.

Which brings us to Da Capo. This is going to serve in two different ways. Obviously it’s to reference what happened at the beginning of the show, as Da Capo has given us as a treat. It’s also where, if we stay true to my theory, s4 had left us hanging.

This is where the lighter comes in. NOW HEAR ME OUT.

Who’s lighter was that before it was Arthur’s?

Roland fucking Cummings, father of Amanda Cummings (one of the side plot points of the first season). Who was he connected to that KAYNE LITERALLY CALLED OUT BY NAME? Frank Underhill, Henry McFarland, Eddie Mason, and Jarrett Coombs.

Final question, who is connecting Roland Cummings and the original boys who got this shit started? CHARLIE FUCKING DOWD.

Quick sidetrack before I really start digging up bodies.

Kayne is obviously a version of Nyarlathotep, whose origin is steeped in Egyptian myths (albeit, can get grossly racist thanks to dead resident evil shithead HP Lovecraft). who went to Egypt to unearth some crazy artifacts that folks would kill people for before he disappeared off the face of the fucking earth, before Malevolent?

Say it with me folks: Charlie Dowd.

Now I have relistened to ep 39 where Charlie/Noel explains all of this to Arthur, and I’m currently getting through the COC campaign that Harlan ran a few years back (so we’ll see where that takes me). I have also done a tiny bit of looking into the Lovecraftian (and other’s) mythos. I am regularly doing more and more tidbits of research because I’m fucking insane and also lowkey have wanted to run a COC game for some friends for a while now, blah blah blah this is just more exposition.

So anyway here comes my theory:

We know Lillith was bluffing about having the crimson stone and the gray stone because Kayne got the Graystone in S4. Kayne might as well be the new sheriff in town. What if we get to meet Roland finally in the Dark World, because bro has been dead and presumed missing for a fucking minute at that point (which could very well be a toss up between KIY or Kayne, because technically the King is the mate of Shub, remember that storyline? Also Kayne because well, Kayne). Again I’m getting way off track, BUT my guess is Roland somehow gets a hold of Charlie, who probably has seen Nephren-Ka’s (pharaoh and cult leader of Nyarlathotep, killed a lot of people) tomb and has gotten a fuck ton of information on since since he was with professionals. And my guess probably is that he has the puzzle pieces to help Arthur get rid of Kayne. The manager literally said Arthur is not the first to attempt this. I literally think he’s referring to Charlie and Roland, at the very least.

Now here comes my second theory, specifically on John getting a body:

Lillith is key. Lillith give John the ability to posses people the way she did with Hattie. Boom, pow he’s got a motherfucking body.

Only things I don’t have a theory on is how the flying fuck Arthur is making it out of this shit and who the fuck the manager is talking to if it’s not just a meta move on Harlan’s end. I’ll probably add to this post when I do.

Now I’m sorry this is sounds like a long shot, and ik it looks like I’ve lost my goddamn mind. After the conversation I had with @magnificentbastardanon I’ve had some serious clarity on this. To the point where I’ve been awake at night thinking about it. Don’t worry I’m okay, I have a life outside of this I pinky promise.

I’m also so sorry if this is entirely incoherent.

I will most likely be updating once we hit mid season.

Since tis the season of wagers, I need to make a bet with myself on how I think these next few episodes are going to go. I’ve already heard Ep 52. Da Capo, for Patreons drops not too soon from when I’m writing this, but I need a record of what I think is going to happen. I’ll probably post it once 52 comes out and Da Capo is announced to the masses. After Evrard’s castle, AND after how I predicted the ending of season was going to go, I’m feeling lucky and wanna try and see if I still got it.

Okay so Da Capo:

Da Capo in musical terminology for those who are not knowledgeable in this subject, is a reference to DC al Coda (fully: Da Capo Al Coda). Which is usually the marker on sheet of music that lets you know once the measure ends you must restart either at the beginning of the piece or where the coda is marked. Blah blah blah, sorry if you already knew this.

THIS ALREADY IS FUCKING ME UP BECAUSE WE HAVE AN EPISODE MARKED CODA????

SO WHAT WE DO HERE? Is this a reference to how Arthur is brought back by some miracle? Is a reference to the do over in time that Kayne was talking about? Is it about how theres going to be another whole ass wager behind Kayne’s already massive fucking gamble? Where does Lilith’s finger come into play? ARE WE GETTING PARKER? Is the waylay going to offer us another way to get back BECAUSE THATS STILL A THING. Especially since you know Arthur is a pile of fucking viscera right as of time of writing (circa April 11th, as a Patreon member).

Then there’s also a reference to the fact that Da Capo is also Italian for “the head”. Sometimes people reference to DC Al Coda when directing as “from the head”. now what does that have to do with Arthur and John?

It could mean Arthur, since he no longer has a physical form, takes John’s place as a physical being in the Dark World. It could also mean, and I’m not fully fleshed out on this theory, BUT it in involves Charlie motherfucking Dowd, NOW STICK WITH ME.

KAYNE WENT OUT OF HIS WAY TO SPECIFICALLY SAY THAT “CHARLIE WAS AT THE THRESHOLD” AND THAT HE WAS NEARBY.

Why would Kayne bring up a mortal who he just whisked away to fucking nowhere just because he wanted privacy with his favorite little human and fragment of an eldritch god? There is literally no other reason for him to be brought up in such an extensive manner if Charlie wasn’t an active player in what is happening. I can feel it in my fucking bones. Is Charlie about to be one of the keys to bring this all together, I am telling you. Idk if he’s gonna resurrect Arthur, or pull him from the Waylay, or even make a deal with the King, which could very well be the case?

This is how we get Charlie Dowd back, this is how we get Arthur back, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, this is how we get John his body back.

[johnjankovic1]

Alea Iacta Est

What's done cannot be undone. Macbeth, William Shakespeare, 1606

The manifold of amendments between the Air Mail Act of 1925 and 1934 fertilized the growth of the aviation industry. It was government munificence that provided a linchpin of capital for operations as it hedged against risk for companies to expand through adventurism. Rather than some throwaway aberration such subsidies have long been a leitmotif in the development of commerce. From the Phoenicians whose rulers bolstered their merchant fleets or their outposts like Carthage with bullion to Britain’s dominion of the seas the use of subsidies has been the sine quo non in scaling business. The rough-and-tumble world of markets beseeches governments to isolate industries until they are more resilient in the prelude to them being stand-alone incumbents. United Airlines similarly evolved from its ragtag roots into a legacy company under the aegis of industrial policy as a way to overcome economic inertia. Market purists in their Manichean worldview malign this use of public funds but America became a world industry benchmark as a result of them. It only took a decade from the enactment of the Air Mail Act of 1925 before passenger revenue exceeded airmail subsidies. The deus ex machina of this industrial policy unilaterally created the aviation industry by its influx of capital.

United Airlines came to be uniquely positioned as a prime mover of world aviation but it was only so under duress. The Air Mail Act of 1925 winnowed out the couriers which could not withstand the entry barriers to its new market. Spoils were reserved for the most resourceful companies hewing to performance metrics prescribed by the government. These stragglers would soon be offered an exit strategy via buyouts from competitors so as to acquire additional routes, fleets and clients in a show of corporate cannibalism that saw a bevy of consolidations. A paucity of wherewithal and know-how was invariably the death-knell for most. Survivors that were triumphant were those which could see beyond the next fiscal quarter and it was the seizure of profitable routes that guaranteed such longevity. After this attrition by 1930 the skyline of American aviation was carved up amongst an oligopoly christened the Big Four. From the Hobbesian war of the market between its barrages of operational costs and fierce bidding did there emerge American Airlines, United Airlines, Eastern Airlines and TWA. Once the dust settled the Air Mail Act of 1930 was more of a coronation than a moment of stocktaking when routes were reappraised with perquisites. The dominant market position of these four would later become the stuff of legends.

Despite allegations to the contrary the oligopoly in the aviation industry was the product of natural selection. The ‘Spoils Conference’ of 1930 where the lion’s share of routes were doled out in backrooms to major conglomerates was a crescendo of the breakneck competition that preceded it. In reality the invite-only conference should be adjudicated through a prism of ambivalence. Whispers of favouritism did inform the parley but these stakeholders had proven their merit for the reshuffling of coast-to-coast and feeder routes whilst also retaining exclusive rights to them (Wolfram 2004). Deference to these industry leaders in the guise of such a conference was a de jure assent to a de facto reality that from a pool of 45 prospects only 4 champions emerged in the survival of the fittest. The cutthroat parameters of the market were themselves the catalysts for the oligopolistic structure that was left standing in the epilogue of the competition. President Roosevelt’s caprice when he later legislated reforms to atomize contracts was blinkered to how these monopolies were the offspring of what was already a meritocracy. The economies of scale achieved by the Big Four with their resort to mergers when the industry was analogous to the Wild West issued from shrewd business alone hence the reason for their immortality now.

As the government spun off its airmail routes in 1925 United Airlines’ precursor and later subsidiary Boeing became the spearhead of the holding company that would follow. The airplane manufacturer and its arm of transport service were the tentpole of what later evolved into a veritable institution in American aviation. The synergy of these two companies in their vertical integration might be analogized to owning a goldmine and its mint. A direct pipeline between the two meant state-of-the-art technology could be seamlessly transitioned from the drawing board to the skies as another addition to the fleet. This just-in-time application and real-time data therefrom telescoped the production cycle by orders of magnitude enabling Boeing to swiftly pivot into the second generation of its Model 40. The Model 80 graced the azures after a quick three-year span from the original platform manufactured in 1925. For a subject that is never broached it is interesting to see how the business models of Ford and Boeing shared a predilection for the vertical integration of value chains. Both companies were manufacturers and each held eponymous airlines as the two were suppliers and customers of their own products. Lateral thinking of this sort was a desiderata for the competition that coloured the early years of aviation.

Although Ford would later abort its foray into the industry Boeing continued with airplanes and their rapid induction into service in the years preceding the company’s strategic merger. United Airlines then inherited the legacy route of CAM-18 for its operational grid and the in-house prerogative of priority access for the first airplanes off Boeing’s production lines. This privilege was what pushed United to the front of the queue in standardizing its fleet with the Boeing 247 upon its introduction in 1932 as 59 units were ordered (Johnson 1974). Although the technology was relegated to a position of lesser prominence since the Douglas DC-3 upstaged it two years later the aircraft did attract passengers into United’s fold as long as it lasted. The standout feature of this aerial locomotive was its power plant of Pratt & Whitney Wasp engines which supplied it with an ample amount of throttle for a cruising speed of 180mph. Another audacity of design was the novel aerodynamics from a retractable landing gear which streamlined the profile to reduce drag. United Airlines would end up investing $4m into the acquisition of these capital assets. A third inheritance for United was Boeing’s value-added service of differentiating itself within markets by having stewardesses aboard flights to humanize the experience which was the first.

[opera-shitpost]

When you’re watching/listening to an opera that you have watched/listened to a few times before, and during the prelude/overture you recognize a musical theme/motif from later in the opera that you hadn’t noticed before: