# Raymonda: Russian Symbolism meets Wagner part 1 (blog 3)



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

The earlier blogs were about things not necessarily related to the music itself, but simply the circumstances of its composition. The blog will pertain specifically to how Glazunov created the ballet.

Glazunov uses a series of themes and leitmotifs throughout the ballet to represent various characters of themes. He mixes and matches the themes depending on what is going on at any given time. If 2 characters are interacting with each other, he will combine themes, and he will also select particular themes to do with that person's personality in that moment.

This below is the main theme of the ballet, which transcends even the main character herself (you could say it's equivalent to the Swan Lake main theme). It represents nobility, purity, righteousness, etc. and it takes the form of a chorale. It is sometimes referred to in the ballet as the _Hymn_:










Raymonda has several themes specific to herself. Her strong, independent side:










This theme often associated with her purity/innocence:










This particular theme represents her flirtatious, childish side:










This short horn-call leitmotif represents royalty/nobility, whenever the King and Queen (Raymonda's parents) are on stage. It is transformed in various ways, but it is distinctly recognized by the triplet ascending arpeggio:










More excerpts on new blog! (seems I hit my maximum for this, but I have many more themes to discuss)


----------

