DJMcNiff

Love how Daily Prophet involves a dark rendition of the Hogwarts fanfare for the Gringotts break-in news - technically we're not yet supposed to know it involves Voldemort or the Stone so using those themes would've spoilt it!
 
As much as Neville Stiffens is a clever idea (combining those two unused cues to kinda recreate the tracking in the film), it feels really redundant to have It's Guarding Something, another Hogwarts fanfare playoff, right after the big one in Running to McGonagall, you just want to get to the varied good stuff by then. It might have been better to just leave those two cues in their place - stick Guarding at the end of Moving Stairs as a moody finale and Troll in the Dungeon in front of Fighting the Troll. I'll certainly do that in my playlist.
 
Otherwise the film presentation of PS is pitch perfect, Im hearing all kinds of new bits I haven't noticed before and having not heard the score for months helped in looking at it with a fresher eye. IMO Hedwig works better as a concert suite and end credits piece while HWW is best listened to as the Children's Suite finale, but there's plenty of space for both on the disc, I can live with it. It's a pure classic, every cue is memorable and has something going for it.
 
The Children's Suite is an absolute wonder, so happy it's finally available! How often do we get 8 miniatures (and 2 larger concert pieces) presenting the main ideas of a score while the composer is still in the headspace, distilled down to their essence with the nature of the presentation and the select instrument groups, but also at times explored way beyond what they usually get in the score(s), like Nimbus 2000! Together with the bonus section, this disc is a testament that the Philosopher's Stone project is perhaps one of the most inspired and enthusiastic Williams has ever been.
 
Hagrid's Flute with a clean ending is great - it's even mastered less harsh, I think. The Leaky Cauldron I dislike, though - a fadeout is one of the laziest ways to end a track (Cantina Band 2... Cantina Band 1 on the OST...), I think the interrupt ending would've been perfectly fine. Flute and the sessions Cauldron will be reintegrated into the main program. Hedwig on Harp is magnificent! The Teaser's good, but its historical significance is greater than its musical interest. Hogwarts Forever vocal might find a place as an intro to HF in the Children's Suite - worth a try at least! I always found Owl's Flight incredibly unfitting for the scene, but an intriguing composition on its own. The Coke ad was always great. Trailer is not a phenomenal performance but a fine closing note.
 
3 hours later... What a set! Basically everything I could ever dream of for Philosopher's Stone - with only 2 minor and easily fixable hiccups (Neville Stiffens, Leaky Cauldron fadeout) in the whole thing! Ron really wants to escape though.

Great question.  I'd imagine yes but I have no information on the subject.

Not if Episode IX ends with everybody dying. Then the final track will be Failure Commiseration and Finale.

MM didn't edit the gracenote out of the Firebolt alternate, that track presents the cue as recorded (the entire set presents the cues at their full recorded length, he didn't go around editing bits out).  Obviously after that was recorded, AC re-edited the scene, and JW had to add a grace note to the revised cue to cover the new length. Then, JW chose to have the grace note edited out for the OST album. 

It's here!!!
 
@rough cut, MusicBox packaged it excellently, two layers of bubblewrap all around and a snugly fitting cardboard box.
 
Feels great to hold it, looks gorgeous, the middle black bit of PS is absolutely destroyed, exactly half the teeth have broken off and one of the corners that holds the jewel case tray could break off any second. The other jewel cases seem cheaper, too, I see what people meant. Disc seems fine, will rip it as soon as possible. If I remember this and handle it carefully, it won't come loose and rattle around. Update: rips just fine, I guess will play just fine too. Whew.
 
The outer booklet feels massive! Crazy what difference a little thickness and a more wide rectangular shape instead of the usual square makes in how your mind perceives its size.

@TSMefford
 
Just watched it! Thanks. 
 
This is really one of my all-time favourite cues from the entire Harry Potter series... The entire sequence fascinates me beyond words. There's really no recognizable theme here, just a kind of repetitive motif going on and on and driving and enhancing the action on screen... But every little nuance is acknowledged and taken into account. The inventiveness of this piece is staggering and mind-blowing! In some ways, this reminds me of "Schindler's Workforce" and "The Mecha World" from A.I.! 

Here you go @Josh500. This is the score as edited in the film, to picture. 
 

 
Now, just because I enjoy this, here are the most noticeable differences (that are not super specific edits):
Right away, the opening is different, removing the Ticking clock and Chimes until around 0:11 2:09-2:38 retains the ticking clock in the film. This section has no ticking on the LLL set or the OST. 3:55-4:03 plays the Flutes a second time. It's not looped, but overlayed over the top of the cue the second time. 4:52-5:00 retains the ticking clock in the film. This section has no ticking on the LLL set. This section is also slowed down, you can hear the tempo change in the ticking. 5:17 onward the film does not feature ticking. This section is present on the LLL set and the OST. 8:49-End is slowed down quite a bit from what is on the LLL set. It plays at 117% it's original length.  
There are plenty of other edits, loops, tempo changes, etc. of course, but the above are the very clear differences. I also just want to say, this was a pain in the ass to replicate and it's still not quite perfect. Damn editors. Lol.

One of the things I LOVED about going to see Azkaban in concert is that it's opposite of how the score's treated in the film.  All the music is front and center and sounds glorious

Ohhhh. Did you mean the Honeydukes Door bell? I see. No matter.
 
But here's what I ended up with after using the LLL set and lining it up by pitch shifting it, editing it, and changing tempo in places ever so slightly (I'm talking 99% and 101%). Careful, there's a volume shift at 0:15.
 

Black Friday 2021: Harry Potter John Williams Collection — Definitive Shawm Edition

What a listening experience! 

Nothing original or insightful, but:
 
 
Damn, I haven't watched the movie in years, and that shot with the carriages in the dark and the start of Double Trouble gave me goosebumps...that's the kind of thing that got me into film and music for it, that's movie magic right there. 

It is great to be able to hear just the Maestro’s music with the film. I never noticed that the bassoon (correct me if I’m wrong) in Double Trouble is perfectly synced with the croaking frogs. That is funny; I love that little detail.

What if the artist or the company decides to release it in the future?
 
And then they suddenly find out that there's no need to anymore, because it's been illegally distributed and anybody that would want it already owns it!?
 
Yeah, didn't think that through, did you?

The greatest victims are the artists that created what you're stealing.

You just aren't allowed to make money off of somebody else's work. Or distribute somebody else's work, even if you don't make money off of it (because there's a chance the owner or the artist may lose money because of it)!
 
It's simple really.
 
But what you do on your own computer with your own property for your own personal use, that's nobody's business or concern.

It's never right to listen to bootlegs, let alone create them. Duh. I don't think this even needs to be discussed.
 
It's being done, sure, but it's still illegal, just like shoplifting. Everybody knows that's illegal too, but people still steal stuff because they (think they) can get away with it and companies and shops lose billions to shoplifters every year.
 
Anybody that claims bootlegs are not illegal just because the music is not legally available is out their mind! 

Oh, so it's OK to steal stuff that's not publicly available. I see! I'm glad we sorted this out! 👍
 
I doubt he's taking a lower cut than what's usual with the speciality labels. If anything, his cut is probably higher because a John Williams album is almost guaranteed to sell out.

When the composer doesn't get paid for the bootlegs you're listening to, you're in fact stealing from him.

Exactly. Two valid approaches but ultimately the more visceral choice wins out given the context of the scene and its placement in the narrative. It makes the following sequence, as Harry and Hermione hide in the forest, that much more suspenseful because it's clear this is a creature we should be terrified of. The lighter approach doesn't convey the same immediate terror.
 
Two newies:
 

 

I think it is down to the perspective in any given scene. Williams' first take was light and jumpy which didn't really to my mind convey the fear and panic of being chased by a werewolf which the film version does with its more visceral take on the moment. The first version is more of whimsy of "Oh crap we just realized that we goaded a werewolf to come after us. Let's skip away as quick as we can." The second version is "The big effing werewolf is coming for us and is going cut us into shreds! Panic! Help! It's coming! It's right on our tail! Run!"

It's definitely an interesting approach but wrong for the film when considering its placement in the narrative (basically right before the third act climax). Maybe Williams just got caught up with all the unconventional orchestration during writing and wanted to see how far he could push the boundaries? Or maybe Cuaron and Williams both agreed that something more 'sneaky' and restrained might be appropriate during the spotting sessions, in keeping with Harry and Hermione's attempts to hide from the werewolf?
 
I'm sure they realised quickly that a different approach was worth trying though, considering that moment is really more about running for their lives than sneaking around and hiding (that comes after and is mostly unscored, wisely).
 
 
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying exactly what constituted that track, I never quite understood where cues began and ended in The Three Broomsticks.
 
Musically, Williams' original intentions here are a bit sparse after Harry puts the cloak on. Was the section at the stairs meant to be unscored originally, other than the music box source? Here's a revised version of that video:
 

 
 
Forgot about the film tracking at the end! Here's the full cue, with all the dialed out music from the start of the cue reinstated, through to the replaced ending over the seasonal transition shot (winter to spring).
 

Misstep? Not at all! 
 
I really love the pizzicato cue...  And I think I know (or I can guess) why JW originally chose to score it that way. It's frantic chase music, all right, but at the same time it somehow needed to be quiet chase music, because it's in the middle of the night, everything's quiet, and you don't want to unnecessarily draw the werewolf's attention! At least, that might have been JW's reasoning.
 
 
He meant how the score turned out in the final movie! 
 
 
Here you go! From approximately 4:00...
 
 

Williams’ original intentions for Lupin’s Transformation are honestly baffling to me. I find it much more musically interesting than what’s in the film, but it’s severely out of step with the horror and suspense of that scene. I’d love to know what he was thinking because it really, truly does not work for that scene.  It’s so out of step that I’d just assumed it was an unused opening to Chasing Scabbers when listening to it on the album for many years.