John Powell & Stephen Schwartz - Wicked (2024) & Wicked: For Good (2025)

[smity3sd 11]

2 hours ago, PrayodiBA said:

The score album will come out 1 week early! Now on December 6th

Great news! The sooner the better. I watched the film tonight and besides being a great adaptation of the musical, Powell really had a chance to shine in the last hour like DangerMotif said - and he knocked it out of the park. One glorious cue in particular might end up being my cue of the year so this score album can't come soon enough. There was some great material in the first half too, including the "home" audio clip from the shizuniversity.com home page acting as

Spoiler

the score over the "Wicked Part 1" title card after the end of "No One Mourns the Wicked" as we transition to Shiz.

 

The "dorm" motif and the style of that cue puts in a lot of work in the first hour, and I think I heard it repeated note for note in 2 different spots but I may have been mistaken.

 

This

On 18/11/2024 at 9:04 PM, PrayodiBA said:

I suppose this glorious music cue comes up at that train/oz part in the movie:

 

 

is played as

Spoiler

the train to Oz is leaving and Elphaba invites Glinda to come along, including the run up to her jumping on and then getting that glorious climax after she lands inside and we transition to a sweeping shot of the train heading towards the Emerald City.

 

Just off the top of my head, Powell also incorporates melodies from various songs as score motifs, including the main melody from Dancing Through Life as

Spoiler

a love theme for Fiyero and Elphaba

 

and the opening piano motif and seventh chords to "For Good" in various points as Elphaba and Glinda's friendship progresses and as foreshadowing to that song in Part 2.

 

The "Unlimited"/Somewhere Over the Rainbow motif is used multiple times as well to symbolize Elphaba's potential to "make good", notably in contrast to the new Bulgarian Choir theme for the Grimmerie spellbook and in the brass as a new ending to "Defying Gravity" at the very end.

 

Some other brief references of "What is This Feeling" happen as well, but I'll be interested to see if some of all these song quotations make it to the album since they might be included in the first soundtrack as extensions of the original songs. I'm very curious how they split it up since some sequences are very extended from the musical, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the songs are double the length if not more than the originals as played in the film. So maybe some will end up being Schartz's contribution but I guess we'll find out.

 

I'll have to go back and check but I think there also might have been a reference to the original Wizard of Oz score where

Spoiler

Dorothy and co. are put to sleep by the Poppies, during a scene in which Elphaba does the same to her classmates to save the lion cub.

 

That was the only potential Wizard of Oz score reference I could recognize beyond the abundance of clever ones from the original Wicked score. My only slight nitpick I could possibly have is that I was hoping for something cool done with the Miss Gulch theme as seen in the trailer here:
 

 

But maybe that's a rights issue, or could happen in Part 2.

 

Great film and experience overall, can't wait to see it again and have more thoughts after I am able to pay more attention a second time!

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,742]

The Dec 6th date makes more sense to release a second album of music for the film because that's when it opens in Europe.

 

And I can't wait for Powell to wring every last bit of emotion out of "For Good" in both this film and the next.

[PrayodiBA 973]

2 hours ago, smity3sd said:

Great news! The sooner the better. I watched the film tonight and besides being a great adaptation of the musical, Powell really had a chance to shine in the last hour like DangerMotif said - and he knocked it out of the park. One glorious cue in particular might end up being my cue of the year so this score album can't come soon enough. 

 

Thanks for the summary!

 

I will be seeing this in IMAX in a matter of hours, can't wait! And as a huge Powell fan, this says a lot!

[Jay 45,648]

Wow, super cool the score album was moved up a week!

[PrayodiBA 973]

I just watched the movie.

 

First, I want to give review of how John Powell's score is mixed in this movie. This is purely my evaluation of the mixing, not at all of Powell's music itself. 

 

I have to be honest, Powell's music is mixed rather poorly in this movie. Mind you, I watched in IMAX with great sound quality. 

Well, in handful moments, the music does shine through; but in most cases, the score is buried underneath the dialogue and sfx. What makes it even frustrating that it seems there are two kind of mix for the instrumental music; the instrumental for the song/musical number is mixed well, but for the score, as if there is another layer to cover it. Especially for the action music, it's heavily overpowered by the sfx. I don't know, maybe because I came with big expectation; but I initially wished, this time, Powell's score can be mixed beautifully like Oppenheimer or Interstellar. But for the umpteenth time, that is not the case   Now I understand why no mention of Powell's score from critics.

 

Now,

for Powell's music itself, of course it's top notch!

So thank God! we got a score album coming up.

 

I will give you many sneak peeks of Powell's score on the next post, as I have recorded them (but I will take out all the dialogue/voice using AI so it won't be a spoiler)

[Edmilson 12,053]

12 minutes ago, PrayodiBA said:

I have to be honest, Powell's music is mixed rather poorly in this movie. Mind you, I watched in IMAX with great sound quality. 

Well, in handful moments, the music does shine through; but in most cases, the score is buried underneath the dialogue and sfx. What makes it even frustrating that it seems there are two kind of mix for the instrumental music; the instrumental for the song/musical number is mixed well, but for the score, as if there is another layer to cover it. Especially for the action music, it's heavily overpowered by the sfx. I don't know, maybe because I came with big expectation; but I initially wished, this time, Powell's score can be mixed beautifully like Oppenheimer or Interstellar. But for the umpteenth time, that is not the case   Now I understand why no mention of Powell's score from critics.

 

Sigh. JP's shots at a second Oscar nomination went through the window... It seems that these days they only nominate scores for musical movies if they're written by Justin Hurwitz or any Academy darling.

 

19 minutes ago, PrayodiBA said:

Now,

for Powell's music itself, of course it's top notch!

So thank God! we got a score album coming up.

 

On the other hand, this is GREAT! Who cares about that crappy award who only likes sound design-like scores these days? Can't wait for the album!

[PrayodiBA 973]

So, here are some sneak peeks of the score.

I recorded them and I took out all the dialogue/voice, so it won't be a spoiler

 

Action cues:

 

Can you hear the music underneath all of these sfx?😄

 

 

And this is truly a classic Powell triumphant music, but curse those sfx!! 😄

 

Suspense cue:

 

 

And this is that Bulgarian choir music representing a spellbook:

 

 

 

And purely based on my assumption, this is proably Powell's own theme, this theme representing Madam Morrible, with its variation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Richard P 5,193]

Those clips sound really neat! I've generally been a bit more reserved about this than most as I don't know anything about the musical and I assumed like many did here that a score for a musical often isn't very substantive.

 

Look forward to a couple of weeks and hearing the score properly.

[PrayodiBA 973]

The movie truly didn’t do Powell’s score justice. All of that masterful writing, they (probably the editor) buried that deep  

 

Anyway, just like @DangerMotif @smity3sd mentioned, the highlight of the score is in the last hour of the movie:

 

Starting at train station scene, all of the happenings at this location is fully scored, and it’s beautiful. In total, there are  maybe around 5 minutes good music here.

 

Then it’s directly continued with One Short Day musical number.

 

Then right after that, as the scene starts inside the emerald palace, almost all of the dialogue and happenings here is scored with Powell’s music. Many of the music is long-lined. Probably there are around 30 minutes music here, including many action cues and they are continuous one part after another. I won’t be surprised if there are many +7-minute tracks on this part.

 

So yeah, overall in total, we can get least 70-80 minutes of music on the score album.

[Loert 3,098]

Powell always gets the short end of the straw. He needs to stamp his foot down more!

[Rachael Foley 9,851]

2 minutes ago, Loert said:

Powell always gets the short end of the straw. He needs to stamp his foot down more!

"It's only F****ng film music!" ~ John Powell (maybe)

[Mrdoggo 24]

2 hours ago, Doo_liss said:

"It's only F****ng film music!" ~ John Powell (maybe)

Honestly i can absolutely imagine Powell being so chill and laid back that he would say something like that haha. 

 

Also, my first post, been stalking you people for years now lol. 

[Tydirium 1,563]

The soundtrack’s metadata features John Powell on two tracks: “Dear Old Shiz” and “Something Bad.” The former makes sense as it begins with that score portion containing the 4-note “For Good” motif, that played on one of the premiere livestreams. I have no clue what he might have done for the latter, though.

 

I really think the end of “Defying Gravity” (the “E.T.”-esque bit tagged on after Elphaba’s battle cry) is just Stephen Schwartz extending the song for the film—no Powell.

[Anthony 895]

The song album is out now, and it doesn't sound remotely like Powell. Not even in arrangements or orchestration. Not exactly a surprise.

 

However, I'm wondering if this disconnect between Schwartz and Powell's sounds is a deliberate choice to create some kind of "gap" between the score and songs. 

[PrayodiBA 973]

Some more sneak peeks of the score (gosh, I truly can't wait for the score album!)

 

This score uses choir prominently, which is one of the best thing about this score,

these are some of the highlights:

This one is pure Powell choral arrangement, beautiful:

 

And some more of the choir, in suspense sequence:

 

This one is Elfman-like, lovely:

 

 

Like I mentioned before, there are handful of instances where the score does shine through, here are some examples:

This particular segment with its waltz-like music:

 

And of course, the train sequence:

 

 

 

[bossnass77 9]

Noticed in the Defying Gravity track at 4:10 the chord is very Williams or Horner like, very good orchestration throughout, also really looking forward to Powell’s score release.

[PrayodiBA 973]

Confirmation from Powell about the score release:

 

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCrbhr0vygD/?igsh=aDRwcHpmbTF0ajYw

[Jay 45,648]

Facebook has a larger version of the images, here they are

 

(can click a few times to embiggen)

 

https://www.facebook.com/johnpowellmusic/posts/pfbid02nZ39L2PkPyChJAozJejjL4J9uejuK5uBVyASNqgzAczHnpnwBydugQboLT1m8Qkul

[Luka 307]

I wonder what the album cover will be!

[jukesy1992 0]

I am new here, but am very excited about the score album. Interestingly, for some reason I can't play the clips that have been posted here, the play button seems to be unavailable. I can't click or press spacebar on them. I'm a blind person, and the media controls seem to be just not working. I, sadly and for obvious reasons can't really take a screenshot to show what I mean either. Does this mean I just have to post more here first before this feature of playing clips unlocks?

[Rachael Foley 9,851]

46 minutes ago, jukesy1992 said:

I am new here, but am very excited about the score album. Interestingly, for some reason I can't play the clips that have been posted here, the play button seems to be unavailable. I can't click or press spacebar on them. I'm a blind person, and the media controls seem to be just not working. I, sadly and for obvious reasons can't really take a screenshot to show what I mean either. Does this mean I just have to post more here first before this feature of playing clips unlocks?

Nah, as far as I am aware we don't really do the whole unlocking features thing on this forum, it's most likely just slow loading all the clips or something.

[Leia Sees Ghosts 340]

Saw the movie yesterday and I'm still over the moon! Couldn't be happier with what I got! Jon M. Chu directs the shit out of it, the musical numbers are pitch perfect, and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are perfection!

John Powell's score within the context of the movie was good. I don't know who said it first here, but they were right that Powell's score REALLY hits when we get to Oz. Or more accurately, the train scene onward. Some cues are hard to make out, but more often than not I was really impressed with the score.

The first few acts there's a lot of instrumentals of songs from the musical. Some are very  and nods to fans and are very obvious. Some are more subtle and I didn't catch them all. I love Dancing Through Life as a motif for Fiyero.

The action cues my God! Powell was always great at that, but Solo was probably the best thing to happen to him cause his action work since then has only gotten more sophisticated and breathtaking.  Can't wait to hear the score on its own.

[Drawgoon 130]

The way these discussions are going, I think I might start the score album right from whatever track that has "train" or "journey" or something similar on its title. :-P

[Will 2,393]

Short instrumental portions of some of Schwartz's songs seem to have been released -- I wonder if longer versions will be posted.

 

 

[Leia Sees Ghosts 340]

30 minutes ago, Drawgoon said:

The way these discussions are going, I think I might start the score album right from whatever track that has "train" or "journey" or something similar on its title. :-P

That train cue was something else. 

[Arpy 4,255]

Saw the film last night and find what  @PrayodiBA said rings true, Powell's score is mixed lower than the other 'score' elements and you can tell there's this rich, colourful writing going on, but they've turned it down! 

 

Schwartz's songs aren't bad, but they are stained with the type of pop writing that tends to sound cheap - even when enhanced with an orchestra. 

 

Unfortunately for me, I had trouble parsing what was OG Powell and Schwartz and the feeling that Powell didn't really get to shine and was instead constrained to what the material he was given. 

 

I'm not a huge fan of musicals and part of me felt as if I would've preferred had this story been told without any musical numbers, yet some songs speak loud enough that they can be a welcome thing.

 

 

 

[Dr. Know 486]

8 hours ago, Will said:

Short instrumental portions of some of Schwartz's songs seem to have been released -- I wonder if longer versions will be posted.

 

 

 

Interesting -- I wonder why/how these snippets got released.  Is it possible that the full instrumentals of the songs will get an official release?  Like a Karaoke-style album?

[Rachael Foley 9,851]

14 minutes ago, Dr. Know said:

 

Interesting -- I wonder why/how these snippets got released.  Is it possible that the full instrumentals of the songs will get an official release?  Like a Karaoke-style album?

From what I understand, these get used in marketing materials, and somehow they get autopushed to YouTube somehow? @Manakin Skywalker ?

[Manakin Skywalker 5,908]

39 minutes ago, Doo_liss said:

From what I understand, these get used in marketing materials, and somehow they get autopushed to YouTube somehow? @Manakin Skywalker ?

 

Beats me  Sounds likely though.

[Rachael Foley 9,851]

4 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

 

Beats me  Sounds likely though.

Ahh, thought someone had mentioned that around the time of Dial of Destiny, that it was related to insta reels, or tiktok 🤷

[Xander Harris 9,449]

I heard on talk radio that annoying fanbase are ruining this overlong movie for everyone by singing along in the theatre. What a bunch of freaks.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,908]

28 minutes ago, Doo_liss said:

Ahh, thought someone had mentioned that around the time of Dial of Destiny, that it was related to insta reels, or tiktok 🤷

 

Oh that's right I had forgotten about that. I think that was the theory, but I don't believe we ever quite figured it.

[Tydirium 1,563]

On 22/11/2024 at 3:48 AM, PrayodiBA said:

This particular segment with its waltz-like music:

Lol, nice! That waltz music is a reference to the Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch theme from the 1939 film!

[PrayodiBA 973]

38 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

Lol, nice! That waltz music is a reference to the Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch theme from the 1939 film!

Wow, great catch!

You meant this one right?

 

Then this is so genius of Powell! 
Because that waltz-music is played when Elphabba riding a bike with similar design to Miss Gluch’s, complete with the basket behind.

 

Well, I’m sure you will have a great time listening to the score as you will instantly relate to many easter eggs and references 

 

 

[Anthony 895]

Saw the film. The first half of the movie has a 2-3 highlights but is reasonably low key. The second half is some of Powell's finest material ever. It's got that same epic scope as Solo and Hidden World. I wonder what he picked up from John Williams.

 

The train departure cue....Jesus Christ, it's phenomenal. There were also what sounded like 2-3 pieces specifically written for the credits including an instrumental medley of the songs. 

 

Bring on the album. 5 stars.

[Tydirium 1,563]

3 hours ago, PrayodiBA said:

Wow, great catch!

You meant this one right?

 

Then this is so genius of Powell! 
Because that waltz-music is played when Elphabba riding a bike with similar design to Miss Gluch’s, complete with the basket behind.

 

Well, I’m sure you will have a great time listening to the score as you will instantly relate to many easter eggs and references 

 

 

 

Stephen Schwartz actually mentioned it in a recent interview! Check out 5:20:

 

 

[tomsmoviemadness 4,742]

I am curious how the credits on the album will be...

 

Will it be just Powell on all tracks?

Will it Powell & Schwartz on all tracks?

Will it be both Powell & Schwartz tracks?

[Tydirium 1,563]

Saw the movie tonight and absolutely loved it. I agree with the comments that Powell’s score really picks up from the train scene onward, but I think the album will reveal that there is more great stuff in the first hour of the film than some here currently seem to think. Most if not all of the clips we heard before the film’s release are from the first hour or hour-and-a-half, but there is some other great writing as well, and his harmonies are amazing. I’d say that the quality of his writing in that first part of the film is just as high as in the second; it is just less action-y. But if you ever wanted to hear a John Powell Harry Potter score, here’s basically your answer.

 

One of the biggest highlights for me was how he scored Glinda’s speech on the train platform; he used the theme from “Thank Goodness” (specifically the “couldn’t be happier” part), which is a song Glinda sings at the start of Act 2/Part 2! I was dreading that we’d have to wait a year to hear that theme, so I was thrilled to hear it already in Part 1.

 

Other thoughts/things I noticed:

 

There are a couple references to the 1939 Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch theme (the aforementioned bicycle scene one, but there is at least one later in the film as well).

 

The “For Good” theme appears a few times.

 

Schwartz’s theme/motif for the flying monkeys appears multiple times.

 

I thought I might have heard a sly reference to either “We’re Off to See the Wizard” or “If I Only Had a Brain,” but my ears may have been playing tricks on me. I’ll pay closer attention during my second viewing.

 

I agree that Madame Morrible does indeed have a new theme by Powell, and it’s a great one! I recall a particularly terrifying statement towards the end, when she is with the flying monkeys.

 

The action music, as others have said, is amazing. It’s just like Solo or the HTTYD scores, with tons of rapid-fire trumpets all over the place.

 

The end credits feature some extensive and fantastic new arrangements of the song tunes; I really hope that some if not all of the credits music will be included on the score album! I think there’s a decent chance, since Schwartz is so actively involved with the whole project (and appears to be getting a co-composer credit on the score), but we’ll see.

 

When all is said and done, this is probably going to end up being in my top 5 or 6 Powell scores. And as a fan of this musical just as I am a fan of Star Wars, this feels like Solo all over again in the best way possible, hearing John Powell play around with some of my favorite tunes. And to think that next year we get another!

[Mcbain 4]

Do we know who arranged the songs? 

[Dr. Know 486]

1 hour ago, Mcbain said:

Do we know who arranged the songs? 

Veteran orchestrator Jeff Atmajian arranged all of the songs and the overture (which I assume is what is heard during the end credits):

 

https://playbill.com/article/the-wicked-film-features-an-80-member-orchestra-and-the-full-overture

[Tydirium 1,563]

1 hour ago, Dr. Know said:

Veteran orchestrator Jeff Atmajian arranged all of the songs and the overture (which I assume is what is heard during the end credits):

 

https://playbill.com/article/the-wicked-film-features-an-80-member-orchestra-and-the-full-overture

 

The overture is the first minute of “No One Mourns the Wicked.”

[Dr. Know 486]

13 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

 

The overture is the first minute of “No One Mourns the Wicked.”

Well, according to the article I linked, Atmajian orchestrated the "full" overture, so I'm assuming that's more than the first minute of "No One Mourns the Wicked"...

[Tydirium 1,563]

55 minutes ago, Dr. Know said:

Well, according to the article I linked, Atmajian orchestrated the "full" overture, so I'm assuming that's more than the first minute of "No One Mourns the Wicked"...

 

I read that article. Still, pretty sure the overture is the first minute of “No One Mourns the Wicked”:

 

Quote

Wicked on screen shows this off early with the aforementioned overture. Once it gets to Elphaba’s tinkly “Unlimited” theme, fans used to the Broadway cast album might just be gobsmacked at the dimension and space Atmajian’s orchestration brings to the table...

 

The “Unlimited” theme the article is talking about, is 0:41 of that track.

 

The article is sensationalizing things a bit; the overture of the Broadway show really isn’t that long. Ironically, the film version actually cuts a few bars of the stage version (but also tags on a bit of new material that is derived from one of the earlier workshop drafts of the show, which is cool).

[Dr. Know 486]

Interesting -- well, I guess I'll reserve judgment until I see the film/the score is released.

[Cindylover1969 96]

19 minutes ago, Dr. Know said:

Interesting -- well, I guess I'll reserve judgment until I see the film/the score is released.

This is refreshing after the FSM thread of this. 

[TBO1711 36]

I wonder if they will do a deluxe album with songs and score, like most Disney musicals?

[Bat1989 172]

For the people that watched the movie, I have one question, how exactly is the percussion of the score as a whole?

[mstrox 7,334]

2 hours ago, TBO1711 said:

I wonder if they will do a deluxe album with songs and score, like most Disney musicals?

This isn’t from Disney, so hard to say.

[Smeltington 1,882]

Saw the movie, ironically the pre-train portion was great but I thought the Emerald City portion was weaker (film, not score), until the very ending, which redeemed it.

 

This will be an interesting question for us film score fans, who are used to making our own edits, and love a C&C experience. Assuming you like the songs, do you make an edit where the songs and score fit chronologically together "as intended"? Powell's score is very much built in the context of the songs, incorporating their melodies, so it would make sense.

 

I envision myself getting the Wicked OBCR, leaving it as its own album, and just listening to Powell's scores in their separate album releases as an alternate experience. But the epicness of an eventual two-movie, 5-hour chronological score & songs unified musical experience, with a rich thematic tapestry, is also tantalizing.

 

In this turkey-filled week, I'm feeling thankful that we're lucky enough to get a dedicated Powell release, and so quickly! And what great "composer casting" given how Solo turned out, with Powell both willing and able to lean heavily into themes written by others, and take them to bold new Powelly places. He has the A-list skills AND the humility to make this the best it can be.

 

I predict future re-releases/repackagings/possible expansions of this material. Especially given Powell's interest in expanding his own work.

[Tydirium 1,563]

Stephen Schwartz talks about working with Powell in this new interview (check out 18:22 and 19:36):