In the second episode of Arts: Explained, Beatriz shows us how hit musical Hamilton has a lot in common with Wagnerian opera!

Wagner pioneered the leitmotif—a recurrent theme throughout a musical or literary composition, associated with a particular person, idea, or situation.

Want to hear more? The opera mentioned by Beatriz is Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold) by Wagner. The leitmotif played is known as “The Rhine.” Click through to hear more leitmotifs from Wagner.

The leitmotif from Hamilton for Aaron Burr can be heard in ‘Aaron Burr, Sir,’ below.

Are there other musical motifs you can identify in Hamilton? Tell us your favs in the comments!