DESCRIPTION:
This leitmotif is first heard in the second scene of Das Rheingold.

This motif is associated with Nibelheim, the underground city of the Dwarves, its people and their forging. It is first heard in the strings before a set of anvils struck with metal hammers takes over, as Wagner specified in his score. More important than the notes is the rhythm.

This motif sounds a lot like the factories which where springing up all over Europe when Wagner was writing. It can be taken therefore that the Nibelungens represent capitalism, something which Wagner, as a socialist, was very weary of. Wagner is saying that yes, they were able to make great (as in powerful) things like the Ring and the Tarnhelm, which are superb works of technology, but they only managed to enslave themselves and bring destruction on the world; we too should be cautious of doing the same thing.

This motif is derived from the second half of the Rheingold motif. Loge sings of the theft of the gold to something akin to that original motif, but this transforms into this motif as he sings.

Progenitor leitmotifs:
Rheingold: http://youtu.be/7o1n81V5wcw

Related Leitmotifs:
None

Subsidiary Leitmotifs:
Obstinate Mime: https://youtu.be/PCF_XA85JUQ

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This video is designed for the purpose of teaching the viewer about the leitmotifs in Wagner's Operas, where they appear and how the work. This clearly comes under the umbrella of fair use. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.