Leitmotif/Real Life

• Believe it or not, but this was a common occurrence for actual people during the American Civil War. Composers from both sides of the war wrote and published many songs honoring individual politicians, generals, and victorious campaigns, including--
  • Birdseye and Alfred Lee's "U.S. Grant is the Man" (for Union General Ulysses S. Grant)
  • Hermann L. Schreiner's "Gen. Lee's Grand March" (for Confederate General Robert E. Lee)
  • Charles Young's "Stonewall Jackson's Grand March" (for Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson)
• Every new U.S. President gets treated to Hail To The Chief.
  • Every U.S. Military General also gets a the same, relatively simple flourish. Its length is tied to the number of stars the general has.
• Close your eyes and imagine a wedding. See the bride walking down the aisle? Now, what do you hear?
  • Bridal Chorus (Here Comes The Bride): Richard Wagner's Bridal Chorus from the opera Lohengrin (Here comes the bride...) or Jeremiah Clarke The Prince of Denmark's March
  • Recessional: Felix Mendelssohn Wedding March from Op.61 suite of incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream
    • Unless you're in Japan, in which case it's her entry music.
  • The sound of a divorce lawyer's car pulling up outside the church to hand out business cards?
• Now that you're done with that, imagine a circus. There's a good chance that you might think of Entry of The Gladiators by Julius Fucik.
• Who's the warm, gracious and funny person that comes to mind when you hear this?
• National anthems
• Service hymns, such as The Air Force Song or the Marines' Hymn can often be heard at parades or official functions.
• In the US at least, many high schools and colleges have fight songs and official hymns. Most Americans are probably at least passingly familiar with the Notre Dame fight song as an audio shorthand for college football, especially if they have ever seen Rudy.