Analyzing the Leitmotifs in Les Misérables

Also, another interesting thing about Javerts Suicide: his whole number is a literal copy of the song Valjean sings at the beginning, which shows that he can’t escape him, no matter how much he wants to. The only time when Valjean’s music stops and Javert’s comes in, is when he jumps, and thus finally escapes from Valjean

9:40 While the woman and Bamatabois are trying to strip Fantine of her dignity at a very vulnerable time, I think, in a way, Valjean's dignity is his identity as Madeleine, and Javert is trying to strip him of it at a vulnerable time. Valjean is known to be very ashamed of his past sins, which is exactly the point of him being an honest man and changing his identity. Even in the book, there's like 10 whole pages of him just going back and forth in a dilemma of revealing his identity to save the man who looked like him. And so Fantine went against Bamatabois the same way Valjean denied Javert's suspicions. tl;dr valjean's identity holds his dignity and javert is trying to strip it away from him the same way bamatabois did to fantine

oh my gosh. i was so happy when i saw a fifty minute video about music theory in les mis!!! it's a recent hyperfixation of mine and i simply adore it. i have been a long time fan of sideways, and i think they would like it! ALSO THANK YOU THE PARIS/LOOK DOWN APPRECIATION IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR!!!!! ITS LITERALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS AND NOBODY UNDERSTANDS! the percussion section at the beginning after each "look down" is breathtaking! oh oh oh AND did you know that the unfinished words of Eponine and Gavroche are combined to make "grow up"? Eponine dies before she can finish the line "a little fall of rain will make the flowers (dies) grow", and Gavroche dies before he finishes "when the pup grows (dies) up". It's not super deep, but i still have a soft spot for this. and and and and you made an incredible point about the women motif. and and and and and the lighting design is stunning in this concert version, the moving bats are chefs kiss

Oooh I have some thoughts! The motif Javert sings at 32:40 is actually Do You Hear the People Sing, but in minor and with a slightly different rhythm. So it makes total sense for Enjolras to sing it later, and Javert sings it here because he’s pretending to be one of the revolutionaries. I can think of two reasons why it’s in minor:  1) because the situation is more serious than it was the first time we heard the song 2) because Javert is pretending to be a revolutionary, so he gets the revolution song, but altered Maybe it’s both!

Quick! Get Sideways!

I don't think it's an oppression or argument motif. Yes, the motifs are sung together while someone is being oppressed/they're arguing but note how they sing the melody whenever one of them is talking about their own sense of justice. In the beginning, Javert sings that melody as he explains to Valjean why he was a criminal; he is enforcing his own idea of justice onto Valjean. The next time they sing it, Javert confronts Valjean and they switch roles because this time, Valjean is the one explain to Javert his own idea of justice (i.e. giving justice to Fantine's death by seeking out her child to take care of her). It's a sense of justice Motif, because they each have their own idea of justice and they sing this melody to explain it to the other.

This was so stunning! I've been hyperfixated on this soundtrack recently and you were Incredible at identifying and cutting in clips of the repeated motifs, as well as then explaining how they layer to give us a greater depth of understanding of the characters. Thank you so much!!

Okay, I know this is a year old video, but as a HUGE fan of the show, I've got to say, this is a brilliant treatise on the motifs in the show. I never heard the term leitmotif before, but I was certainly aware of the repetitions throughout the show. THANK YOU for putting a name and an orderliness to it thereby resolving an itch that's been in my head for years that I never even knew enough to scratch! Bravo!

22:00 actually, that motif is the start to both Valjean's and Javert's soliloquies. This is a holdover from earlier versions, where the Prologue *doesn't exist*. Therefore, this is actually a Javert theme, which shows his distress. Later, it gets expanded on when he thinks of ending things. Then, in later versions, his song gets another version sung by Valjean in the prologue which we now know as "Valjean's soliloquy". Interesting bit of history.

This video was soooo good! I love the motifs in les mis, and it's so cool to see someone do a deep dive into them

Very well done! At 35:24, it's mentioned a motif appears 5 times. I could only find four of them at 7:15, 7:35, 9:57 and 34:54. If the context of the fifth is the same, I propose the Belligerent Curiosity Motif. In each case, there is bad-intentioned scoffing or disdain in the curiosity of the moment. The Police Motif could also be called the Authority Motif and thus would apply to both Javert and Gavroche (who's not a policeman but in charge on the streets). Still, the Police Motif works because Gavroche is clearly mocking police authority. At 3:09, 12:40, 31:00, and 47:49, I think the motif could be called the Going Beyond Motif. Valjean is going beyond his life in prison. Eponine is going beyond her love of Marius. Fantine and Valjean are going beyond their earthly lives to spiritual lives. Even Cosette sees Valjean recovering and living beyond his ill health. Lastly, I know someone who will love the content at 19:36.

I loved this. I too have been obsessed with this musical/story since I finished reading the book. I had been thinking of many of the points you brought up and it was great to hear your analysis. There is so much in your video to think about.

The instrumental idenity motif is the original oveture from the French concept album where the Prologue is not present (it was added when Les Miserables premiered in London).

I just watched/listened to Les Miserables for the first time last week and have had the music in my head non-stop ever since. The more I listened, the more I noticed these leitmotifs throughout. I really appreciate your aggregation and analyses of these, as it was driving me crazy trying to figure out when certain motifs get used when. ❤

I like how simultaneously comprehensive this is yet you admit when you're stumped. it gets people thinking in a manner not a lot of video essays do. also maybe in on parole the idea is that "24601" is beginning to die, setting up the tension released in Valjean's soliloquy but thats just my thoughts

What an amazing video. Thank you for helping me enjoy and appreciate this music on whole new levels.

Faaaaantastic dissection of the leitmotifs of Les Mis, and has helped me notice some leitmotifs that I normally don't notice consciously, also luv the void gremlin wanting to be on screen.

Thank you! I have always loved this musical and I knew there was so much more I just was not getting

I interpret the motif that plays in on parole as a death Motif, because Valjeans old life "died"

Such a great analysis! I feel like a lot of the use of leitmotifs of this musical can be explained by its writing process. For example, if I remember correctly, Stars was written late, because they wanted to give Javert more song time, so it makes sense that it doesn’t reappear elsewhere. More importantly, in the original french cast album "On My Own" is actually a song called "L'air de la misère” sung by Fantine and describing life's *misery*. In that context, I suppose it would have worked as one of the core musical themes of the show, and its appearing in key moments would make perfect sense!