some controversy surrounded the use of the word in wagner's own circle: wagner never authorised the use of the word "leitmotiv", using words such as "grundthema" (basic idea), or simply "motiv". his preferred name for the technique was "hauptmotiv" (principal motif), which he first used in 1877; the only time he used the word "leitmotiv", he referred to "so-called leitmotivs".