all anastasia musical motifs, sorted chronologically
*this does not have explanations, it's just a list
in the prologue, "crossing a bridge" can be heard as the dowager empress discusses le pont alexandre.
the "home, love, family" theme from journey to the past (will be referred to as 'jtp' for the whole post) can be heard as the dowager empress tells anastasia what their adventures in paris will be like.
once upon a december's (to be referred to as 'ouad' through the post) tune can be heard in the background as the tsarina alexandra talks with anastasia
briefly, in my dreams' (imd) tune can be heard has the dowager empress exits the stage.
there is a chime when the tsar lifts anastasia
*not a motif, but interesting, is that the last dance of the romanovs (to be referred to as (ldor) has a traditional russian tune and style. i also love to hear them sing. actual motif in ldor is that ouad can be heard as the royal family takes photos.
in both the overture and last dance of the romanovs, the tune of stay i pray you (sipy) is heard - this is because sipy actually directly takes some melody from In The Dark of the Night, rasputin's song in the 1997 film.
ouad can be heard as the dowager empress reads the letter disclosing what happened to her family
the neva flows (tnf) is sung at the beginning (haha) of rumor in st petersburg as gleb begins his intro monologue
the ghosts of the romanovs can be heard singing in the background of in my dreams
there is a chime signaling that anya is remembering on "paris" in imd, she goes on to describe what her grandmother told her in the prologue
not a motif, but i always notice that imd seems to be in a different key than in the cast recording, and i notice that it's placed differently in the recording, on bway stage, and in hartford
the tune of ouad can be heard during gleb and anya's first interaction, which takes place in the middle of a rumor in st petersburg
the song rumors never end is technically a motif seen later during the press conference but is not addressed otherwise
a bit of ouad can be heard in the rumors never end
you can hear the tune of tnf playing as that very scene begins
there is a cut song from hartford into broadway that gleb sang about anya's name. it adds a lot of context as to why gleb will randomly add musical lines with "anya," such as at the end of the tnf scene
you can hear rumors never end immediately post tnf, along with the tune of tnf. they're melded together as the scene changes
tnf is then briefly reprised by the drunkards
the ghosts of the romanovs are heard in the background of ouad, just like in imd. also crazy crescendo
a secret she kept (assk) is to the tune of imd
immediately after, the tune of ouad is heard
when vlad comes onstage post assk, a version of a rumor in st petersburg starts playing in the background
sipy tune plays at the beginning of its scene
we'll go from there (wgft) backtrack ish is heard at the beginning of that scene on the train. there's also a little bit of learn to do it (ltdi)
the sequence song of vlad, dmitry, and anya running away, the one w gleb and his boss, is to the tune of a rumor in st petersburg
the tune that plays as gleb salutes the bolsheviks seems to be still into a rumor in st petersburg
learn to do it's tune plays as they enter paris for the first time
the tune of journey to the past only starts to play as a motif during this song; they don't especially soft launch later songs with motifs
WHEN ANYA SAYS "thank you, dmitry" THE "HOME LOVE FAMILY" TUNE PLAYS. GOODBYE.
paris holds the key has chimes, which we've established signify anya remembering. while they could also mean this here, they do play when dmitry watches anya dance because this is when he really starts to realize he loves her
not a musical motif but to make up for the lack of eiffel tower onstage like they had in hartford, they mime traveling up the eiffel tower's elevator - nobody else has seemed to notice this when we watch it until i point it out to them. hell, it took me around 15 watches to notice
crossing a bridge's musical motif can be heard in that scene before she sings, just like with jttp. it's also heard leading into the next scene
land of yesterday's tune plays throughout the scene regardless of if they're singing it - also, like last dance of the romanovs, it has a traditional russian dance style
paris holds the key plays as they enter the neva club
paris holds the key's tune plays for a second as the countess & the common man scene starts
the land of yesterday reprise obvi has a motif of loy but also the cut song 'anya' that i mentioned earlier in this post
the exit music is a combination of still, loy, and ouad
i cannot fucking figure out what the dream sequence's music draws from someone please tell me. it very will could be original but that just doesn't seem to fit right
acot has the same remembering chime
instrumental of paris holds the key at the beginning of ballet scene
when the dowager empress enters the ballet, the tune that plays is close the door
A CROWD OF THOUSANDS IS THE TUNE THAT PLAYS WHEN DMITRY WALKS IN and yes i will be making a post about the significance of his theme musics...
a cut song from the musical, when she walks in, is what plays when anya walks into the ballet
the swan lake music has anastasia's score woven into it
anya's first verse in quartet at the ballet has the tune of imd
dmitry's first verse in quartet at the ballet is to the tune of ouad
the dowager's verse starts as ouad and becomes close the door which is amazing symbolism
gleb's first verse is to the neva flows
gleb and dima's verse is to the tune of ouad
dima's tune in the overlap bit is ORIGINAL!
from what i can tell gleb's tune is also an original
anya's bit is to ouad
"with everything to win, the only thing i lose..."... [home love family tune plays]
when the dowager empress says, "take me home, lily" THE HOME LOVE FAMILY TUNE PLAYS BECAUSE SHE GOES TO ANYA WHO IS HER HOME LOVE FAMILY FUUUUUUCUKKKKK
i can't decipher what the music is when the dowager walks in again so i think it's an original
obviously ouad reprise is ouad, and the tune also plays in their small convo after they finish singing
once again, ouad plays as the intro to the photos scene
shocker, still/the neva flows reprise uses the tunes of still and tnf
the original draft of ntf from hartford is also included
sipy/in the dark of the night plays after gleb doesn't shoot anya, admits he believes she's anastasia, and after he says "long life, comrade"
AT THE BEGINNING FROM ANASTASIA 1997 PLAYS AS ANYA RUSHES TO FIND DIMA AT THE TRAIN STATION AND INTO THE NEXT SCENE UNTIL VLAD COMES
when vlad delivers the music box to the dowager empress, the 'home love family' tune plays once again and jttp continues through that scene
a crowd of thousands plays as dmitry walks onstage in the final scene
THE CHIME PLAYS WHEN ANYA RUSHES ONSTAGE
ouad plays through the finale scene obviously
the dowager empress reclaims things that gleb says twice: first, when she says be very careful to anya in their reunion scene, and next when she says still... as the final spoken word in the musical
also, 'close the door' is used in both the song close the door and sipy
nicole and the ensemble's bow is to a rumor in st petersburg
from what i could make out, the tune that plays for caroline o'connors bow is paris holds the key
learn to do it is what plays for john bolton's bow
the neva flows is what plays for ramin karimloo's bow
ouad is what plays for mary beth peil's bow
my petersburg plays for derek klena's bow
journey to the past plays for anya's bow
this masterpost took me months because it was such an undertaking. here she is
