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In music, a theme is the initial or primary melody. After the principal theme is announced, a second melody,
sometimes called a countertheme or secondary theme, may play. In a three-part fugue, the principal theme is announced three times in three different voices -- soprano, alto, bass -- or some variation of that. In a four-part fugue, the principal motif is announced four times. A motif is a short melodic figure used repeatedly which may be used to
construct a theme. A leitmotif is a motif or theme associated with a
person, place, or idea.
Thematic changes and processes are often structurally important, and
theorists such as Rudolph Reti have created analysis from a purely thematic
perspective. Fred Lerdahl describes thematic relations "associational" and thus outside his
cognitive based generative theory's scope of analysis.
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