Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (from The Phantom Of The Opera) - Andrew Lloyd Webber

Background - Christine sings this song to her late father while visiting his grave. The mood of the song is a sad one as Christine tells her father how much she misses him.

Main Structure - A B A B' C

A=> a: b2 - b5, a': b6 - b9

B=> b: b10 - b17, b': b18 - b25

A=> a: b26 - b29, a': b30 - b33

B'=> b'': b34 - b41, b''': b42 - b49

C=> c: b49 - b56

I have indicated on the score:

1. Main Structure

2. Phrase Structure

3. Chord Progression (Roman Numerals)
4. Harmonic Function

in the respective colours.

I shall analyse the song section by section. Please take a look at the score for the complete harmonic and phrase analysis. I will discuss aspects of the piece other that those already marked out on the score. 

In general, the atmosphere created by the song intensifies as the song progresses.  

Section A (b2-9):

Other than beginning in a minor key (G minor), the sorrowful mood is conveyed by the moderately slow tempo of the piece, as well as the moderately soft dynamics. The accompaniment in this section is kept simple.   

Phrase analysis - 

Section A is double period, with a(b2-5) being the antecedent period and a'(b6-9) being the consequent period. Each of the two periods are made up of an antecedent phrase and a consequent phrase lasting two bars each.

I was initially contemplating whether Section A should be labelled as a double period (which requires the first period to have a weaker sense of closure than that of the second period) or just a section made up of two almost identical periods. This question came about as the closing bar of each period (b5 vs b9) is similar sounding so it might appear that both periods have the same degree of closure (and hence cannot be an antecedent period and consequent period).

However, after a closer look at the score, the last note of the first period is sung right till the end of the bar, while the second period ends on the third beat of the bar with a rest on the fourth beat. The causes the second period to convey a slightly greater sense of closure relative to the first period. 

Harmonic Analysis -

Even though the melody is almost identical in a and a', there are some changes in the chord progression from a to a'. The most obvious change is that from chord VI (E flat) to chord vii (Fm) in b3 and b7. When heard together with the melody, chord VI and the starting G note in the melody of b3 gives a consonant and clear sound. In contrast, in a', the change from chord VI to chord vii gives rise to a dissonant sound due to the major 2nd and minor 2nd interval formed by F(in the chord) and G(in the melody), and G(in the melody) and A flat(in the chord) respectively. This dissonance creates a more intense atmosphere in the antecedent phrase of the reprise of a, a' as if intensifying the feelings of sorrow (which builds up the atmosphere nicely to complement the lyrics of the consequent phrase - 'then my world was shattered') 

Being harmonically open, Section A transits smoothly into Section B.

Section B (b10-25): 

The modulation to the tonic major (G major), as well as the quickened tempo creates a more lighthearted mood in the new section. However, the solemn atmosphere is maintained by the soft dynamics used at the start of this section. The lyrics of this section starts off with Christine wishing for her father to be alive and about how dreaming seemed to help. Towards the end of the section, Christine realises dreaming is actually meaningless ; 'dreaming of you won't help me to do all that you dreamed I could'. Once again the music complements the change in tone of the lyrics by gradually increasing in volume. 

Phrase analysis - 

Section B is made up of two almost identical sentences, b(b10-17) and b'(b18-25). (Please refer to the score for the illustration of the phrase structure).

The main structure of the first sentence is short-short-long (2+2+4):

Short - Wishing you were somehow here again

Short - Wishing you were somehow near

Long - Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here

However, there is also a sentence structure nested within the long subphrase of the main sentence; short-short-long (1+1+2)

Short - Sometimes it seemed

Short - if I just dreamed

Long - somehow you would be here

The second sentence, b' has exactly the same sentence structure as b. 

Harmonic analysis -  

As the chord progression in b and b' are identical, I will discuss the harmonic aspect of Section B with reference to b. The exact same analysis can be applied to b'.

A tonic pedal is used in the first four bars of the section, followed by a subdominant pedal in the fifth bar. The Roman numeral analysis indicated on the score does not take the bass pedal into account.

In bars 15-16, there is tonicization in the dominant key, transiting smoothly to the dominant chord in bar 17.

The repeating of bar 15's chord progression in bar 16 creates a feeling as if someone was 'reiterating a point'. The is especially so since bar 15 is the end of a short subphrase, and bar 16 is the start of the long subphrase (as discussed in the phrase analysis above). In this case, the new subphrase starts by using exactly the same chord progression that the preceding subphrase ended with. This creates a sense of intensity  which builds up nicely to the dominant chord in bar 17. 

The ending of section B on the dominant creates a smooth transition back to section A since the dominant chord is common to both G major and G minor (parallel minor).

Section A (b26-33): 

The pace of the music slows down and the music gets quieter, once again  bringing out the sorrowful mood potrayed at the start of the song. Apart from the change in lyrics, bars 26-33 and bars 2-9 are identical. 

Section B' (b34-49):

The chord progression and phrase structure in B' is identical to that of B. Unlike section B, B' starts without the lead voice with only the instruments playing the melody. The voice part only comes in on the 5th bar of the section. Thereof, the atmosphere of the music intensifies with the gradually increasing tempo and loudness. This intensity builds up to the second half of section B'.

In the second half of the section, b''', the piece modulates up a minor third to B flat major (G major -> G minor[parallel minor of G major] -> B flat major[relative major of G minor]). This rise in key, coupled with the loud and gradually increasing dynamics, along with the octaved base line, makes b''' the most intense reprise of b.

This intensity continues to build up into section C.

Section C (b49-56):
The melody of section C in bars 49 - 54 has some similarity to a motif used in another song featured earlier on in the musical (The Phantom of the Opera), 'Angel of Music'. Being one of the last songs to be sung in the muscial, it comes across as a deliberate action by the composer to 'bring back' the elements of the musical featured earlier on, as well as to facilitate a transition to the song that follows after.


Motif of Angel of Music
 




Section C starts off very intensively, being the only section in which the melody is played using big chords. This is accompanied by octaved tonic pedal point in the bass.

The music then ends off softly and slowly with repeated subdominant notes in the melody. By ending the music in such a way after a build up of intensity throughout the song, it suggests to the audience that through the outburst of emotions, Christine eventually calmed down and better came to terms with her father's death.