Richard Wagner and the leitmotiv:

Siegfried forges his own sword. The power in the music coordinated with the singer hammering and sharpening the sword make this one of the arguably most powerful pieces of music. Can you tell what stages he reaches in the process by listening to the music? Putting the shards of his fathers broken sword together, then forming the sword anew, then sharpening and putting a better and better edge on the blade until he cuts the very anvil in half to test it! The section above is an excerpt on Amazon.com but all of the operas are available in the Loussac Libraries excellent collection. The complete libretto is included so you can follow the give and take between Siegfried and the dwarf Mime who has been unable to forge the sword (it takes one who does not know fear!). Mime "jetzt learnt kochen." Says Siegfried. Since we can also say the dwarves are representative of the Jews, what does this piece show about the attitude of the cultured elite that knew well what Wagner was doing? Mime is later one of the "knaves" felled by the sword he tried to forge for so long. This was of course not indicative of only Germanic attitudes. Have a look at one of the other "final solutions" to the "Jewish problem."

The leitmotiv (song motif) was Wagner's invention. It is now one of the main tools for composers (like Williams who does all the music for Lucas). Each major character or item in a movie may have its special musical motif by which we emotionally sense that character or item -- or memorable event when the music is played. This is a very powerful way of controlling our emotional reaction to something in the movie, TV show, or other event.