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Stephen Schwartz - 'Defying Gravity' (Harmony (Chords are in root…
Stephen Schwartz - 'Defying Gravity'
Background info
Stephen Schwartz composed this piece
American musical theatre composer and lyricist
Finale song of the first act
Musical theatre
Songs
Spoken dialogue
Acting and dance
Performing forces
A duet
A wide 14th range
Uses a large orchestra
Wide variety of percussion instruments
Melody
Syllabic throughout
Some vocables and vocalisation
Starts conjunct
Some ascending sequences
Few chromatic moments
Strucure
Verse chorus form
Verses: B.34, B.63, B.135
Chorus': B.50, B.79, B.103, B.151
Texture
Melody dominated homophony
introduction with a sparse texture
Some chordal homophony
Coda is briefly contrapuntal
The two voices often sing in unison
Tonality
In the beginning, tonality is ambiguous with chromatic movement
D major
Each verse and chorus returns to the tonic key
Modulates a few times
Very distantly related keys
Harmony
Chords are in root position
Chord progression are often unrelated
Some use of dissonance
Pedal the end
Diatonic
Many alternated chords
Tempo, metre and rhythm
Numerous tempo changes
B.1: Free tempo
B.20:Andante
B.49: Allegro
B.88: Moderato
B.103: Allegro
B.129: Allegro
B.111: Andante
B.162: Andante
B.168: Maestoso
Starts off in 3/2 but changes to 2/2 and also changes at 4/4. At bar 115 returns to 2/2
Frequent syncopation