L2 - Taking it apart
Lesson Objectives:
To learn the make up of the orchestra for Defying Gravity
To understand the structure of the piece
To understand the use of leitmotifs and motifs
To understand the use of perfect intervals in the shape of the melody
Orchestration
Elphaba and Glinda, have different vocal ranges and sound.
Glinda is sung by a soprano, the highest of voices
Elphaba by a mezzo soprano, a slightly lower and richer voice. Both voices require a large range of just under 2 octaves.
They are accompanied by a band of 23 musicians, many of whom have to play more than one instrument—this is called doubling.
Keyboards are used to give the impression of a bigger orchestra with string, woodwind and brass sounds available called patches.
‘Wicked’ was orchestrated by the arranger, William Brohn, who beautifully conjures up a sound world of witches and magic.
Instrumentation
Four strings (2 violins, viola, cello), which use a tremolo and pizzicato
Double bass, doubling on bass guitar
Four woodwind players doubling on flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, cor anglais and saxes
Six brass instruments (2 each of trumpets, trombones and horns) using mutes and hand stops in places.
Two guitars which in ‘Defying Gravity’ use overdrive , creating a distorted effect.
Harp and percussion including drum kit and timpani. Listen out for the ‘magical’ sounding synth and glockenspiel, the suspended cymbal roll the ethereal tubular bells, bell tree, shaker and tam-tam (gong), which comes in at bar 169!
Three keyboards, 2 of which are synthesisers and one of which is an acoustic piano.
Structure
‘Defying Gravity’ is basically a solo in a verse and chorus form for Elphaba, which is expanded with duet sections, passages of underscoring (music played under dialogue) and recitative (vocal music that follows the rhythm and intonation of speech). At the very end, the ensemble enters, just before the curtain falls. Lets listen and follow the structure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf9Bt5WFZKs
Leitmotifs and Motifs
When you looked at Star Wars, we saw how John Williams made use of recurring musical ideas which become linked to certain characters or themes like Luke Skywalker or the shark in the film Jaws. These are called leitmotifs.
Composers have also always made use of short ‘bits’ of melody, maybe only a few notes. Perhaps the most famous one of these is the opening of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony—have a listen! These are called motifs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4IRMYuE1hI
Schwartz uses a number of leitmotifs and motifs throughout Wicked, which help unify the piece and act as musical reminders of events which have happened already.
The most prominent leitmotif links to the film ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and is based on the famous song ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’
Schwartz calls this the ‘Unlimited’ theme after the lyrics that are sung to it in ‘Defying Gravity’.
As you can see the same 7 pitches are used in these two short extracts. One from 'The Wizard of Oz' Somewhere Over The Rainbow and from bar 93-94 in Defying Gravity.
These 7 pitches are used in an accompaniment figure throughout the musical and first heard in ‘Defying Gravity’ at bar 21 and they become Elphaba’s leitmotif (Motif B)
Another motif (C) is also adapted from these 7 pitches, adding the D shown. These form little synthesiser flourishes in bars 21, 23 and 33.
Key
‘Defying Gravity’ is originally in the key of Db major but for the purpose of your GCSE it has been put into D major with a key signature of 2 sharps (F# and C#)
Though the very first chord is the tonic D major, it does not remain there for very long but instead, throughout the 31 bar introduction, Schwartz visits unrelated keys including B major and F major. At the end of the introduction it finally reaches D major at bar 32 following a perfect cadence.
There are many keys changes in ‘Defying Gravity’ , though unlike ‘Music for a While’, the key changes are abrupt and are not really modulations. This is the case with the sudden change back to D major for the beginning of the 1st verse.
Perfect Intervals
As we discovered in Star Wars, composers often focus on certain intervals in their pieces.
As in Star Wars, ascending perfect 5ths and perfect 4ths are present throughout and much of the melodic material for the verses is based on these intervals.
These leaping intervals from the tonic (D) to the dominant (A) create a sense of strength and power. As with Luke Skywalker’s theme, this is appropriate for Elphaba who is asserting her own strong identity. Below is the opening of the 1st verse
The rest of the 1st verse continues in the same way with variations of this 1st phrase. Schwartz also makes use of perfect 5ths at the beginning of the chorus as Elphaba ‘leaps’ so does the music!
Review Questions:
1) What does doubling mean what describing a player in an orchestra?
2) What two type of voices are Elphaba and Glinda?
3) What song is the 'Unlimited' theme based on and how many pitches are used?
4) What is a leitmotif?
5) What two intervals feature in much of the melodic material?