Wicked

Defying Gravity Podcast Question Sheet. 

Historical Context: 

Where does the song Defying Gravity appear in the musical Wicked? 

Who was the show written by and where did he come from? 

Wicked is based on which book? 

The song is a duet between which two characters? 

What is the term that means half singing half talking, that is used in opera? 

The instruments are added to the orchestral instruments that play in the pit orchestra? 

Analysis of the piece: 

Introduction: 

What is a cue line? 

What does Colla Voce mean? 

What texture are the orchestral stabs at the beginning of the piece? 

The opening chords descend chromatically what does this mean? 

The time signature 2/2 is duple because there are 2 beats in a bar. It is also simple (not compound) because the beat is subdivided in to halves not thirds. So 2/2 is a duple/simple time signature. 

How could you express 3/2 using the terms above using the options below? 

Duple/Simple

Triple/simple

Triple/Compound  

Verse 1: 

When the rhythmic pattern described repeats what happens to it? 

The rhythm changes

It changes it Key

Instruments change 

What is the overall key of the verse (second half)? 

What is a push rhythm? 

Chorus 1: 

What is metric shifting? 

What is used to make the chorus sound more exciting? (texture, dynamics etc) 

Underscore: 

Why is the underscore a bit unusual harmonically? 

What is the musical joke that the composer used in this section? 

Reprise of the opening: 

In this section unlike most of the song, the vocalists sing at the same time but sing different notes, what word describes this? 

Last verse 

What makes this verse different to the two previous verses? 

Outro: 

What are the features of the outro?