Hamilton and Leitmotif
Oh my, does Lin love using leitmotif.
First, an explanation. What is leitmotif?
Basically, a leitmotif is a small recurring musical theme that’s associated with a person, a situation or an emotion.
As a non-Hamilton example, we can hear the Thenardier’s leitmotif in almost all of their songs (Master of the House, the Waltz of Treachery, Beggars at the Feast, Dog Eat Dog, etc.). When you hear those notes, you think of the Thenardiers. That’s a leitmotif.
Hamilton is IN LOVE with leitmotif. Here are some examples:
Hamilton:
- The way his name is sung. Hamilton, being overconfident and self-important, sings his name a certain way in Alexander Hamilton, What’d I Miss, Satisfied, etc. He actually sings it this way regardless of the song’s melody (thus demonstrating his self-importance). When he is not so confident (Aaron Burr, Sir), he sings it with the song’s melody.
- Other leitmotifs include /why do you write like you’re running out of time/ and /I am not throwing away my shot/.
- In a cut workshop version of The World Was Wide Enough, Hamilton sings “I know this puts me in a difficult spot/But I’ve got to throw away my shot/, reprising his leitmotif and, in a way, bringing it full circle
Burr:
- Talk less, smile more
- Wait for it
- If you stand for nothing, what’ll you fall for. Interestingly, when Burr finally decides to stand, he does fall, metaphorically speaking. He falls from the public eye, he falls from his own values, he surged forward as he has constantly been encouraged to do one time in his life, and the ramifications were lifelong.
- Both of these leitmotifs are used by Hamilton or in Hamilton songs. Hamilton tells Burr he has to listen to his “talk less/smile more” leitmotif to manipulate him, and uses “wait for it” both in Hurricane and in The Room Where it Happens, once to mock him (RWIH). In Hurricane, the inclusion of Burr’s “wait for it” leitmotif almost sounds like Burr is mocking him.
Eliza:
- Her most reccurent melody is her “look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now”, which first appears in the Schuyler Sisters. It is repeated in That Would Be Enough and Non-Stop. It is repeated to her in It’s Quiet Uptown.
- This leitmotif is reprised on “further down, further down” during Schuyler Defeated.
- Her phrase “if I could grant you peace of mind”. During That Would Be Enough, she sings “If I could grant you peace of mind (….) that would be enough.” However, when it’s reprised in Non-Stop, she sings “If I could grant you peace of mind/Would that be be enough?” Implying that she has realized that Hamilton is indeed “non-stop” and their family and her will never make him “satisfied”. Then it is reprised again in “Best of Wives and Best Of Women” with “that would be enough”, another indication of how their relationship is repairing itself.
Laurens:
- Laurens gets one of the only prolonged solos in “The Story of Tonight.” His leitmotif “tomorrow there’ll be more of us”, is repeated in the scene where Hamilton learns about his death (not on the album, but here!)
- His line “raise a glass to freedom” is repeated during both Story of Tonights. It’s also the last line Hamilton sings in the show.
Angelica:
- Angelica’s “he/I will never satisfied” is repeated in several songs. Obviously in Satisfied, then in Non-Stop, then turned around darkly in “The Reynolds Pamphlet” (You could never be satisfied/God I hope you’re satisfied)
YASSSSSSQUEEN
Washington:
- His leitmotif “History has its eyes on you” is repeated several times, but it’s also repeated when he’s not there.
- It is repeated in the song of the same name, then in Yorktown, then in Non-Stop and One Last Time (all with him there). Then it is repeated in Hurricane, perhaps with Hamilton finally realizing what he was saying.
- Not quite a leitmotif, but an connection between two characters: in WLWDWTYS, Washington steps forward during “she tells my story”. When Eliza sings “I speak out against slavery”, he steps back into the shadows and says nothing. This is meant to reflect the shame of the fact that while Eliza spoke out against slavery, he did not.
- skywalkinggreys has wisely pointed out a Burr-Washington connection using his leitmotif: Burr doesn’t seem to realize that history DOES have its eyes on all of them, while lines like “don’t be surprised when your history book mentions me” and “history is happening in Manhattan” show us that the other characters do. When he sings “I’m the villian in your history” he is finally realizing this.
King George:
- Thus guy exists on leitmotifs. All his songs are of the same leitmotif.
- Examples: “oceans rise, empires fall” “da da da da da, da da da da da da da”
Philip:
- You knock me out/I fall apart are used twice, both to refer to Philip (after his birth and after his death)
- “I probably shouldn’t brag but dag, I amaze and astonish”, where he shares a leitmotif with his father.
(source)
