Defying Gravity

Defying Gravity
From the Stephen Schwartz musical Wicked

Wicked tells the story of the relationship

between two women and what part they played
in each other lives, and how they shaped each
other. One becomes Glinda the Good and the
other the infamous Wicked Witch of the West.

The song falls at the end of the first act

 Defying Gravity
The song is primarily sung by the lead character
Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West)
There are two short duets with Glinda (the Good
witch) at the beginning and moments before
before Elphaba makes the life changing decision
to openly defy the so called Wonderful Wizard
of Oz.
The theme of the song is empowerment.
 Defying Gravity
Structure
Intro
Verse 1 > Chorus
Verse 2 > Chorus
Bridge 1 > Chorus > Bridge 2
Verse 3 > Chorus
Coda
 Defying Gravity
Introduction
The songs begins with an argument between Elphaba
and Glinda where they are both criticising each others
actions. Recitative partly sung, partly spoken
Glinda makes an important dramatic quotation from
earlier song "The Wizard and I" when she sings, "You
can still be with the Wizard" (0:43).
Schwartz sets these lyrics to the same melody of "The
Wizard and I." Schwartz mines the emotion and music
from "The Wizard and I" to express Glinda's doomed
hope of keeping Elphaba happy with half a dream. This
is a compelling musical link.
 Defying Gravity
The orchestra violins and violas tremble and we
have no clear beat. These tremolos underscore
the first of Elphaba's two great uplifting moments
(1:16).

This allows Elphaba to cast aside normal

conventions. After this point of no return, we will
never again see Elphaba in the same way. She will
fly away from her old self and confirm the fears of
those who never gave her the benefit of any doubt
about her intrinsic wickedness.
 Defying Gravity

2:52-2:57
One of the many powerful breaks in the score
takes place as we again hear a descending
figure in the bass clarinet to introduce an
important moment - in this case, it's Elphaba's
temporary seduction of Glinda to come with her
 Defying Gravity
(3:23)
Another magical section begins when the two
women sing about defying gravity together.
This moment of unalloyed joy is as close as
Glinda gets to letting go completely of the need
to act all the time.
For once, Glinda is unselfconscious. For a few
moments, she is not defined by her high-
maintenance persona and she joins Elphaba in
forging a path independent of social status. They
are both through playing by other people's rules.
 Defying Gravity
Despite this liberating flight of fancy, Glinda
remains fearful of change, so Elphaba must
issue her plaintive, "Well, are you coming?"
(3:45).
The line is full of the last moment of hope and
the first moment of bitter resentment. Elphaba
subsequently feels abandoned and angry.
Despite this powerful separation, Glinda and
Elphaba sing the "Unlimited Theme" together:
both are hoping the best for each other, fully
aware of their permanent estrangement and the
pain it will bring.
 Defying Gravity

We are then given complete silence for a

moment before hearing both Elphaba and
Glinda sing "my friend" (4:20). We thus get a
taste of "For Good." We must wait a long time
before we again see Glinda and Elphaba so
close.
 Defying Gravity
4:23
The beginning of a dramatic build opens
arguably the most exciting 1 minutes of the
score.
The French horn soars and looking to the
western sky, we see Elphaba blazing (4:37) and
a big vocal belt.
After a brief, dramatic slowing of the beat, we
are dropped into some churning, charging
orchestration as Elphaba flies solo (4:46).
Elphaba declares her independence and
embraces her future of solo flight.
 Defying Gravity
As the song reaches its climax, there are
changes in tempo again to highlight important
moments.
After the re-entry of the chorus completes the
dramatic structure of Act I, Elphaba, Glinda, and
Oz citizens clash powerfully (5:29).
At the peak, while Elphaba holds her note
defiantly, we hear Glinda sing I hope you're
happy."
This time, however, the lyric phrase is set on top
of the musical material we heard at the very
beginning of the show - the "Wicked Witch
Theme."
 Defying Gravity
Summary
A variety of tempos are used
A variety of keys are used
Dynamics are exploited for emphasis
Motifs and music are borrowed from early songs
to link the story

As well as our lead character flying (via

hydraulics!) - lights, costume and the
orchestration add to the finale for act 1.
 Defying Gravity
Research & Analysis

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listening to the mp3.

Research the key words used.

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