1. Defying Gravity

2. 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

3. 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.

4. Defying Gravity Structure Intro Verse 1 > Chorus Verse 2 > Chorus Bridge 1 > Chorus > Bridge 2 Verse 3 > Chorus Coda

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Defying Gravity 4:23 The beginning of a dramatic build opens arguably the most exciting 1½ 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.

12. 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."

13. 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.

14. Defying Gravity Research & Analysis Look through this PowerPoint again whilst listening to the mp3. Research the key words used. Research further into the song Remember DR SMITH for analysis