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A complete musical idea — a melody with phrase structure, usually 8–16 bars, that serves as the primary material for a movement or section.
As a heading, “Theme” (German “Thema”, Italian “Tema”) labels the opening statement of a set of variations, followed by “Var. 1”, “Var. 2” and so on; English editions sometimes print it in capitals (“THEME.”). In analysis rather than in the score, the word names a section’s main melodic idea.
A theme is more complete than a motif — it has a beginning, middle, and end. Write themes that are memorable on first hearing, harmonically clear, and rich in motifs that can be developed. The best themes balance simplicity with distinctiveness.
The first theme of Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony — a simple triadic melody that becomes one of the most developed themes in all of music.
Theme is one of 1760 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary: the words, abbreviations and instrument names that appear in printed scores, plus the vocabulary composers use to talk about them.
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