John Williams harmony questions

[Jar Jar 28]

Hi all,

 

I ma a long time reader of this forum but now times are changing and I'm gonna try to contribute

 

First message and yet a question for the musician fellows. I think it would be helful to create a thread with all questions and observations we have on JW scoring style. Hope you will not mind.

 

I am currently studying the Harry Potter scores and I am amazed by one chord progression.

It's the beginning of the chamber of secrets theme.

 

The introduction is based on two chords :

 

C Eb G B E : Obviously a Cminor major 7 (The James Bond chord !)

 

followed by :

 

B C Eb F# Ab : what the *** is that chord and what function does it represents.

 

I have spotted the Hungarian minor mode which is a minor mode with augmented 4th.

 

So in Cmin : C D Eb F# G Ab B C

 

I am hearing the chord being a vi minor major (like the imperial march) Ab B Eb with added C and F# in order to create some dissonnance and the horror of the chamber.

 

But I'm not sure that is what Williams had in mind. Work also with a more classic VI Major : Ab C Eb with added B and F#

 

What do you think about this ?

 

 

 

 

[karelm 2,913]

Hi and welcome, we have this thread here that goes back a few years:

Can you post a link with the timing of what you are asking about?  Not sure which cue exactly you are referencing.  The celesta opening?  When the orchestra comes in?

[Jar Jar 28]

17 minutes ago, karelm said:

Hi and welcome, we have this thread here that goes back a few years:

Can you post a link with the timing of what you are asking about?  Not sure which cue exactly you are referencing.  The celesta opening?  When the orchestra comes in?

 

Oh great, I put back my question in the thread.

[Tydirium 1,167]

Not sure if this is the place to post this, but my current fascination is 3:39 to 3:47 of "Pops on the March". The harmonic underpinning of the tune in that spot is something only Williams could (or would, these days) do. I'm almost tempted to set aside some time on Sibelius to try and figure out exactly what is going on there; it's really remarkable how things seem to harmonically shift with almost every note of the melody. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

 

[Falstaft 2,132]

It's a wonderful theme, isn't it, Tydirum?

 

Here's my quick and dirty attempt at a transcription. This only gets across half the story, since so much of the effectiveness of the harmony relies on the thick wind voicings and the active, walking bass-line. But even with just chord symbols, you can see how chromatically dense this melody is!

 

 

58 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

Not sure if this is the place to post this, but my current fascination is 3:39 to 3:47 of "Pops on the March". The harmonic underpinning of the tune in that spot is something only Williams could (or would, these days) do. I'm almost tempted to set aside some time on Sibelius to try and figure out exactly what is going on there; it's really remarkable how things seem to harmonically shift with every note of the melody. Anyone have any thoughts on this?