GCSE Music: Area of Study 3 - Music for Stage and Screen: Defying Gravity - Musical Features

How are perfect intervals important to this piece?

the two intervals of the perfect fourth and the perfect fifth provide the melodic material for the first verse

How do perfect intervals affect the piece?

they create a strong and assertive melody

What are the textural features of this piece?

- starts with homophonic marcato chords from orchestra and monophonic lines from the witches

- main: melody-dominated homophony

- polyphonic during choruses

- contrapuntal

What are the tonal features of this piece?

- alienates any sense of tonality with continually shifting harmonies

- tonal ambiguity

- verses and chorus are major, coda begins minor

- ensemble and soloist sing major triad to end the song

- use of augmented chords (bars 7 and 122)

- use of half-diminished chords (bar 19)

What is the rhythmic focus of this piece?

alternates between slow chordal accompaniments and driving quarter rhythms

How is percussion used throughout this piece?

for rhythmic emphasis

What is the song 'Defying Gravity' from?

the musical Wicked (2003)

What does the song title 'Defying Gravity' refer to?

Elphaba's vow not to give in and accept the rules and limitations placed on her

What has happened in the story leading up to this song?

Elphaba has vowed to fight the Wizard of Oz after discovering he is not the hero she thought he was

What song is the Unlimited theme based on?

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

What are the notes used in the Unlimited theme?

D, E, F#, G

How does this piece start?

- marcato, reflects the anger between Glinda and Elphaba

- homphonic

- recitative

How does the harmony change in the introduction?

- moves chromatically: D, C#m, Cm, B

- tonality remains uncertain

- chord of C with F#s in melody, further unsettles a sense of key

How does Schwartz place the two witches at odds with one another?

- gives each witch an initial 'key area'

- D major for Glinda, Db major for Elphaba

How does Verse 1 open?

motif B on the brass and motif C on the synthesiser

What key is Verse 1 in?

D major

What feelings do the bare fifth chords used in Verse 1 create?

- sparse

- sense of possibility and wide-open spaces

- the freedom Elphaba is imagining for herself

How does Schwartz reflect Glinda's on-stage objection to Elphaba's actions?

triplets are introduced to create cross-rhythms against the quaver movements established in the chorus

What does the perfect cadence at the beginning of Verse 2 portray?

Elphaba's increased confidence, sounds decisive

How does the harmony move in bars 69-70?

moves through a short circle of fifths progression, D to G to C

What is the melody in bars 71-79?

hexatonic

Where is the 'Unlimited' theme introduced?

bars 93-93

How does the metre change in the first bridge?

changes to 3/4

What happens in Chorus 3?

Elphaba and Glinda harmonise together in fifths and fourths

Bars 24-29:

- Schwartz uses a quotation from an earlier song "The Wizard and I"

- gives greater effect to Elphaba's uncertainty as to whether she wants to pursue her path

What is the significance of the Second Dialogue Section (bars 88-92)?

- bitonal: left hand plays a C major chord, right hand plays G major 7

- these two keys are a fifth apart

- G major 7 has an F#, key feature of motif C

What happens in the melody during the First Bridge (bars 90-103)?

- scalic descent over a perfect fourth to the words 'we cannot win'

- scalic ascent up a perfect fourth for 'just you and I'

What is Link 2 (bars 111-114) based on?

motif B

What happens during the Revised Version of the Introduction (bars 115-129)?

- 'I hope you're happy' melody takes on a different feel now the witches have reconciled their differences

- accompaniment is long sustained chords with shifting harmonies

- use of interval of a third in vocal part adds warmth

What happens during the Vamp Section (bars 129-135)?

music moves from C major to D major

What is significant about the Second Bridge (bars 135-151)?

- melody for 'as someone told me lately' is the same as 'something has changed within me', but sung powerfully

- melodic idea of a descending fourth

What is significant about the Coda (bars 168-177)?

- orchestra play an altered version of motif B

- ensemble sing primarily in fifths

- soprano ensemble part rises in alternating tones and semitones

- series of polytonal chords

- final chord: keys used are a semitone apart, creates strong dissonance