Editing Leitmotif (section)

===Critique of the leitmotif concept===
The critic [[Theodor W. Adorno]], in his book ''In Search of Wagner'' (written in the 1930s), expresses the opinion that the entire concept of the leitmotif is flawed. The motif cannot be both the bearer of expression and a musical "gesture", because that reduces emotional content to a mechanical process. He notes that "even in Wagner's own day the public made a crude link between the leitmotifs and the persons they characterised" because people's innate mental processes did not necessarily correspond with Wagner's subtle intentions or optimistic expectations. He continues:
<blockquote>The degeneration of the {{lang|de|leitmotiv}} is implicit in this&nbsp;... it leads directly to [[film score|cinema music]] where the sole function of the leitmotif is to announce heroes or situations so as to allow the audience to orient itself more easily.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adorno|first=Theodor W.|author-link=Theodor W. Adorno|title=In Search of Wagner|publisher=Verso|year=2009|isbn=978-1844673445|location=London|translator-last=Livingstone|translator-first=Rodney|orig-year=1952}}</ref></blockquote>