Cross motif

Liszt's cross motif  Play .

Tchaikovsky's "Cross"-motive,  Play .

In music, the cross motif is a motif.

A motif (Crux fidelis) was used by Franz Liszt to represent the Christian cross ('tonisches Symbol des Kreuzes' or tonic symbol of the cross) and taken from Gregorian melodies.^[1]

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky associated a motif with the crucifixion, himself, and Tristan, a variation of which first appears in mm.1-2 of his Pathétique Symphony.^[2] Tchaikovsky identified with and associated the cross-motif with "star-cross'd lovers" in general, such as in Romeo and Juliet.^[2]

See also

• Bach motif
• Cruciform#Cruciform melody

Sources

Motifs Early Ave Regina Caelorum - Dufay Common practice Baroque BACH motif Classical BACH motif Romantic BACH motif Cross motif Dresden amen Modern and contemporary 20th-century DSCH motif Schoenberg hexachord Contemporary Sacher hexachord 21st-century BACH motif DSCH motif Sacher hexachord Schoenberg hexachord Other Cruciform melody Figure Fortspinnung Leitmotif Musical cryptogram Ostinato Pianto