How musicals use motifs to tell stories

Listen to this line from the musical Wicked.

Or click anywhere to begin

This same melody repeats three times during the show, each at a pivotal moment for the main character, Elphaba.

🎧 Click play and see if you can hear how the melody is the same in each clip.

This sort of thing happens in lots of art forms, from film scores to standup sets. Depending on the medium, you might call it a theme or a callback. In music, the word motif describes a short, distinctive musical idea that recurs in a salient way.

Here are all of the motifs in Wicked.

How did you define a motif?

This piece focuses on melodic motifs that are sung, leaving out those occurring just in the orchestra (which are plentiful, just harder to capture reliably). I drew the line there because these are the easiest to hear and recognize. To qualify, a motif must recur at least twice across multiple songs. Each chart shows one instance of each motif per song, though many reappear several times within a single song.

To detect the motifs, I listened to these musicals a bunch of times, and noted occurrences by hand, while consulting some outside sources.

Hear a motif that we missed? Reach out at michelle@pudding.cool.

All motifs (6)

Wicked

This motif is introduced in the first song, and comes back at the very end.

Another motif that bookends the entire thing (in case you forgot which show you’re watching).

The final time, the lyrics change from “unlimited” to “I’m limited.”

First sung by Elphaba, and later by Glinda – some good ol’ teen heartbreak.

When Elphaba fails to save the person she loves, she vows to never do a good deed again.

Slight changes in pacing and harmony give the second appearance of this motif even more depth of emotion.

Musicals put motifs on display in a unique way.

Music is always telling a story, but here that is quite literal. This is especially true in musicals like Les Misérables or Hamilton where the entire story is told through song, with little to no dialogue. These musicals rely on motifs to create structure and meaning, to help tell the story.

Musicals like these are an excellent ground for observing the power and function of motifs – what exactly are they doing for the stories they are a part of? Let’s break that down, using examples from these sung-through musicals, but with patterns you’ll also spot across film, TV, and beyond.

Visualizing how musicals use motifs to tell stories

By Michelle Pera-McGhee

Composers have been using repetition for forever. Think Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, where da-da-da-DUM repeats and reappears throughout the piece.

In the 19th century, German composers started formalizing the idea of attaching a motif to a person, place, or idea within a story (these are called leitmotifs). Think Peter and the Wolf, where different instruments and melodies represent different animals in the woods. Or the theme in Up, which captures the idea of Carl and Ellie’s shared life together.

So a motif doesn’t just exist, it represents something.

This creates a musical storytelling shortcut: when the audience hears a motif, that something is evoked. The audience can feel this information even if they can’t consciously perceive how it’s being delivered.

Carl and Ellie from Pixar’s Up, waving out at the crowd as they get married

In the first four minutes of Pixar’s Up, a melodic motif carries the emotional weight of the story, all without any dialogue.

This technique has been embraced in many mediums — from opera to video game music to modern musical theater.

Let’s look at some examples of story and emotional information being conveyed through musical motifs.

Representing a character

One of the most straightforward uses of a motif is to represent a character in the story. These motifs can help cue the audience that a character is present, like Darth Vader or someone from the Fire Nation in Avatar the Last Airbender. A change in the motif’s instrumentation or tone can signal a change in that character.

Character motifs

Les Misérables

A rising melody sung only by Valjean whenever he faces a difficult choice. It appears through Act 1, and he gets an updated version in the second half of the show.

This cute little melody is mostly associated with Cosette as a child, but we hear it again near the end of Act 1 when she’s all grown up.

The Thénardiers’ other theme, sung when they’re manipulating or tricking someone.

Jean Valjean gets an updated character motif right before the end of the first act, when the story fast forwards several years.

In Hamilton, there are often literal introductions of characters to a consistent melody or rhythm.

Representing an idea

More often, motifs are a marker for something more abstract – love, heartbreak, adventure – and not always owned by a specific character. Like this Star Wars theme that embodies the concept of The Force, calling in ideas around destiny, hope, the struggle between good and evil.

Idea motifs

Les Misérables

This motif opens the entire show, and represents struggle and oppression.

Sung in the darkest times of the battle, after someone important has died.

Sung by the students at the barricade, represents friendship and camaraderie in dark times (very similar to Raise a Glass in Hamilton!).

This hymn-like motif appears when Valjean prays to God (first to protect Marius, later to declare he’s ready to die). Represents divine protection and the vulnerability of asking for help.

Creating emotional layers

Why does that scene from Up make everyone cry? It establishes a simple melodic motif that comes to represent Carl & Ellie’s adventure together. But the real emotional weight comes from the fact that we hear it both in moments of joy and in moments of loss and heartbreak, each appearance carrying the previous memories with it. We feel the weight of the past layered onto the present moment, which makes it hit even harder.

The following motifs repeat, but with drastically different emotions across the show.

Motifs with emotional changes

Les Misérables

This beautiful melody is introduced early on when a bishop helps Valjean in a time of need, and brought back at the end when Marius is grieving the loss of his friends.

Introduced early on when Fantine is forced into prostitution, and comes back at the end when the women are reflecting on the battle and loss.

Sung first by Marius asking Eponine to do him a favor, and returns when Marius is holding Eponine as she is dying.

This motif represents Gavroche, a courageous young boy who joins the rebellion. It’s introduced with a brave, joyful energy, and comes back when he is killed.

Weaving everything together

Both Les Misérables and Hamilton have a song at the end of the first act where many of the motifs introduced so far all come together. The audience is reminded of everything we’ve learned and seen so far, and the most important threads of the story collide and are woven together.

One Day More

Les Misérables

Often paired with Police Response, and usually occurs during a confrontation with the authorities.

One of the most iconic motifs of the show, appearing in times of hope.

First sung by Fantine, and carried on by others after she dies.

The first time Valjean sings this, he’s debating whether to turn himself in and reveal his true identity. The final time he sings it, at the end of his life, he finally reveals the truth to his loved ones.

This motif introduces the scheming Thénardiers in “Master of the House.” It returns in “Beggars at the Feast” and briefly reappears in “One Day More.”

Non-Stop

Hamilton

The main guy!

Hamilton proving himself is a big theme throughout the musical.

An exchange, usually between Burr and Hamilton.

One of Hamilton's main motifs.

This motif repeats lyrically in “Non-Stop” and melodically in “Schuyler Defeated.”

Eliza sings this motif as she falls head over heels for Hamilton.

This motif was borrowed from a letter from Angelica to Hamilton, where she writes: “You are happy my dear friend to find consolation in ‘words and thoughts.’ I cannot be so easily satisfied.”

Burr's main motif, representing his cautious, measured approach to life.

One of Eliza's main motifs, representing her love and devotion to Hamilton and their family.

Washington's motif representing duty and leadership.

One of the core messages of the show, this motif represents the weight of legacy.

This motif is sung by other people about Hamilton and his relentless sense of urgency.

There’s something else hidden within that “Unlimited” motif from Wicked. It’s actually the same notes as “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”, a nod to the musical’s original source material.

From Wicked

From The Wizard of Oz

Across generations, these pieces speak to each other — the threads connect. From the subtle to the more overt, connections like these shape how we feel and what sticks with us.

Most of us don’t consciously notice this force at work in the moment. Luckily, we don’t have to understand it to feel it.

Explore all the motifs we found in Hamilton, Les Misérables, and Wicked.

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hamilton playbill program — A chart with time on the x-axis depicting the occurence of 35 motifs in hamilton.

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🤷‍♂️ how does a

Sung by Aaron Burr, narrating and introducing a new part of the story.

💰 alexander hamilton

The main guy!

🤩 just you wait

Hamilton proving himself is a big theme throughout the musical.

🎩 aaron burr sir

An exchange, usually between Burr and Hamilton.

🤫 talk less

A piece of advice Burr gives Hamilton (which he ignores), that demonstrates the difference between them.

🏀 my shot

One of Hamilton's main motifs.

💭 i imagine death

Hamilton contemplating his mortality and legacy.

🍻 raise a glass

Like the motif in Les Misérables, this theme captures the camaraderie and idealism of young revolutionaries.

📜 angelica

Each Schyuler sister gets their own name motif.

🕯️ eliza

Each Schyuler sister gets their own name motif.

👩‍👧‍👦 schuyler sisters

This one comes back very subtly in Act 2.

😎 summer in the city

“Someone in a rush” changes to “someone under stress” later on.

👀 look around

This motif repeats lyrically in “Non-Stop” and melodically in “Schuyler Defeated.”

🇬🇧 you'll be back

These 3 songs, all sung by King George, are basically identical and musically distinct from the rest of the show.

😍 helpless

Eliza sings this motif as she falls head over heels for Hamilton.

⏳ flashback

“Satisfied” is a flashback of “Helpless,” and this motif helps place us in time as we experience the same events from a different angle.

💞 my sister

Angelica demonstrating her sisterly love for Eliza.

👍🏽 satisfied

This motif was borrowed from a letter from Angelica to Hamilton, where she writes: “You are happy my dear friend to find consolation in ‘words and thoughts.’ I cannot be so easily satisfied.”

💀 doesn't discriminate

Burr contemplating two forces that are beyond his control, love and death.

🛑 wait for it

Burr's main motif, representing his cautious, measured approach to life.

9️⃣ counting

This count is usually used in the context of a duel, but also in “Take a Break” for Phillip's piano lesson (some sad foreshadowing).

📏 duel rules

These two songs are basically identical.

🔫 aim no higher

The final rule, which recurs for each of the three duels in the show.

🥺 that would be enough

One of Eliza's main motifs, representing her love and devotion to Hamilton and their family.

🥺 that would be enough B

The second section of Eliza’s motif.

👨‍✈️ asking me to lead

Washington's motif representing duty and leadership.

🗺️ history has its eyes

One of the core messages of the show, this motif represents the weight of legacy.

🤍 who tells your story

These are the final words we hear in the show.

⏰ running out of time

This motif is sung by other people about Hamilton and his relentless sense of urgency.

😇 phillip rap

Phillip performs this rap for his parents as a 9-year old, and then again to himself when he's grown up, and feeling nervous before a duel.

📝 room where it happens

Burr feels left out, even though his passiveness has put him there.

😏 on your side

Hamilton seems to be Washington’s favorite, and Burr, Jefferson, and Madison jealously sing about it.

⚖️ equal opposite

One of Jefferson’s only motifs!

✌🏽 say goodbye

Washington’s goodbye echoes in Hamilton’s final words.

💔 quiet uptown

Hamilton calls back to the previous song about grieving the loss of his son while everyone around him in “The Election of 1800” is focused on politics.

Notes

This piece focuses on melodic motifs that are sung, leaving out those occurring just in the orchestra (which are plentiful, just harder to capture reliably). I drew the line there because these are the easiest to hear and recognize. To qualify, a motif must recur at least twice across multiple songs. Each chart shows one instance of each motif per song, though many reappear several times within a single song.

To detect the motifs, I listened to these musicals a bunch of times, and noted occurrences by hand, while consulting some outside sources.

Hear a motif that we missed? Reach out at michelle@pudding.cool.

“Unlimited” motif