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Wicked 'Defying Gravity' by Stephen Schwartz - Coggle Diagram
Wicked 'Defying Gravity' by Stephen Schwartz
CONTEXT
Stephen Schwartz is an American music theatre composer and lyricist. Born in 1948 in New York.
2003: Ccomposer and lyricist for Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz, a musical based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. this is an alternative version to the Wizard of Oz and tells the story from the point of view of the witches, Elphaba and Glinda (the Good Witch)
"Defying Gravity' is the finale for the first act, (before the interval)
Elphaba realises the Wizard of Oz isn't the all powerful good-intentioned character he was thought to be and she wants to do everything in her power to defeat him.
she sings about how she want to live with no linits, going against the rules that others have set for her
INSTRUMENTATION AND SONORITY
Duet
for Elphaba and Glinda
some spoken dialogue as well as singing, a small vocalisation in bar 174-175
extremely versatile voices with a large range of just under two octaves; from G below middle C to F
Large pit orchestra
woodwind section - includes additional instruments like piccolo, bass clarinet and cor angles
brass and string sections with a harp and three keyboards
percussion - drum kit, tubular bells and timpani
electric guitars create a modern sound and in this song are required with
overdrive
, a distortion affect
Elphaba uses belt quality at the top of her range to convey power
the chorus (ensemble) join during the coda at the very end of the song
STRUCTURE
verse - chorus
form
A musical
is an extended piece of music integrating songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance.
1-19 free tempo
opens with stab chords with full orchestra to build up
20-48 Andante
the
mood change
s the dynamic is quiter and there's a key change to f sharp major then F but then goes to D
49-87 Allegro broken chord accompaniment
and big drum part
88-102 Moderato
mood and key change
and the girls sing together with a semiquaver accompaniment
103-110 Allegro
key and tempo changes
with a prominent piano part.
111-128 Andante
chordal accompaniment
song builds up
129-161 Allegro
Climax
of song with big orchestral sound drums and loud dynamic.
162-167 Andante
full orchestra Elpheba,Glinda and the ensemble sing in
counterpoint
with different musical ideas
verse:
bar 34, 63, and 135
chorus:
bar 50, 79, 103, 151
TEXTURE
Predominantly melody - dominated homophony
sparse texture
at opening: punctual instrumental stab chords with
monophonic
unaccompanied bars
text
Melody - dominated homophony
in verses
Homophonic chordal
moments
Ostinato accompaniment
at b.88 with repeated semi quavers
Unison and harmony
singing though Elphaba and Glinda usually sing seperately
Sing together in 3rds
(sweet - sounding) to represent friendship later in the song
Contrapuntal (polyphonic)
ending: 3 different musical ideas with different lyrics: Elphaba, Glinda and the Chorus
HARMONY AND TONALITY
TONALITY
Ambiguous tonality at start
D major
( recording in semitone lower in Db)
Modulations
b.20 B major
b.22 F major
b.32 D major
b.88 G major
b.103 D major
b.115 chromatic melody of the opening
b. 132 D major
b.168 B minor
finish on D major chord
HARMONY
Root position
chords
unrelated chord progressions; parallel semitonal movement in opening (chromatic movement)
Dissonance
occasionally
Pedal
at the end
MELODY
Syllabic
throughout the rhythms moving in a speech - like manner
Vocalisation
at the end in bar 175
Conjuct
/ stepwise start
verse and chorus combine
conjuct and wide angular leaps
leaps often feature rising perfect fifth
some other exceptionally large leaps such as a coumpand perfect fourth and a compound perfect fifth
Elphaba's leitmotif
developed to form much melodic and accompanying material
Unlimited leitmotif
at bar 91
RHYTHM, TEMPO AND METRE
Tempo changes
through this song and they are important to the overall structure
Rallentandos
used particularly at end of sections from
Allegro
to
Andante
Time signature changes:
3/2 to 2/2 in opening
changes to 4/4 at b.88
returning to 2/2 at b.115
Synocopation
and
dotted rhythms
are used throughout
Triplets
are used, both quaver and crotchet triplets
Rhythms are predominantly crotchet and quaver based, with some longer durations at ends of phrases
Rests are often used to break up phrases. Pause mark or fermatas are used to lengthen and give freedom to longer rhythm
Off- beat entry
after a crotchet rest at each start of phrase
Metrical shifting
at bar 51 where a repeated obstinate doesn't fit exactly within the current metre (in this case a 3 quaver note obstinate in a piece of 4/4) which moved the emphasis around creating momentum
EXPRESSION AND DYNAMICS
Wide range of dynamics
that are linked to the drama on stage
articulation such as
marcuto
important in emphasising instrumental parts and creating drama
Most expression created through singers'
virtuosic
vocal style