Docteur Qui

I will watch this regardless, but I found the trailer a bit underwhelming. I doubt it woudl've caught my attention had the movie been made by other director

Was it 40 versions that Yates was shown and rejected? Or was it 40 versions that JNH himself did, from draft to final demo? That's not made clear, and in my experience composers label every single one of their drafts, and may only show the director a handful that they're satisfied with. Add to that the two components of the given example - Hedwig's Theme and another theme for the film's titles, that's several permutations that JNH would have worked with (e.g. one version of the cue has Hedwig's theme on celesta plus a JNH theme, another version would possibly have Hedwig's theme on French horn plus the same JNH theme, then he'd change his theme but try it with a different Hedwig's theme etc etc).
 
Also for what it's worth, I've never understood the angle that Williams deserves any kind of special treatment as a composer. He's done so many films and I guarantee that he's had to revise cues over and over again to satisfy a director or producers. He's a professional, part of that professionalism is helping realise the director's vision. A composer is only one part of a film, and while vital it's by no means the single most important role.
 
In this example it's an opening cue, literally the first thing the audience experiences, and extremely important for establishing the feel of the movie. I'm not at all surprised Yates wanted it to be absolutely perfect. It doesn't sound as if the majority of the rest of the score had to go through similar revisions.

Was it 40 versions that Yates was shown and rejected? Or was it 40 versions that JNH himself did, from draft to final demo? That's not made clear, and in my experience composers label every single one of their drafts, and may only show the director a handful that they're satisfied with. Add to that the two components of the given example - Hedwig's Theme and another theme for the film's titles, that's several permutations that JNH would have worked with (e.g. one version of the cue has Hedwig's theme on celesta plus a JNH theme, another version would possibly have Hedwig's theme on French horn plus the same JNH theme, then he'd change his theme but try it with a different Hedwig's theme etc etc).
 
Also for what it's worth, I've never understood the angle that Williams deserves any kind of special treatment as a composer. He's done so many films and I guarantee that he's had to revise cues over and over again to satisfy a director or producers. He's a professional, part of that professionalism is helping realise the director's vision. A composer is only one part of a film, and while vital it's by no means the single most important role.
 
In this example it's an opening cue, literally the first thing the audience experiences, and extremely important for establishing the feel of the movie. I'm not at all surprised Yates wanted it to be absolutely perfect. It doesn't sound as if the majority of the rest of the score had to go through similar revisions.

12.000 per episode? A rough 250.000 per season? 
Jesus, for such a high profile show, that's absolutely terrible. 

It's obvious Zimmer's clone factory just undercut Clausen and they looked for an excuse to get rid of him and save costs (all while the voice actor fees continue to blow out year on year; eventually something's gotta give).
 
Not that I'm defending the decision, just the reality of how the business operates. This rubbish narrative they've invented to justify getting rid of him is embarrassing.

I wouldn't overthink the label here. The initial few statements of the theme link it with the Medallion, but most subsequent usages are looser. This is not atypical for Williams, or indeed any composer who uses the leitmotif technique in a non-mechanical way. 
 
I love the thought and detail you've put into this analysis, @Fabulin, but I confess I'm puzzled by a number aspects, not least of which is the claim the theme is in Eb major. Don't mean to be too dogmatic here, but it's about as unambiguously in Cm as a theme can be. In particular, the G-major at the conclusion constitutes a half-cadential dominant, which may or may not lead to the return to the tonic C-minor. There are Williams themes where tonal function is more ambiguous, of course, but alas this isn't one of them. At the same time, I agree with you that it is an autonomous theme, not a B-section of the Ark Theme. (Though it does retroactively serve that role rather well in Ark Trek and the Miracle of the Ark!)

The analysis is really interesting.
However, I always think music fans have a tendency to over-analyze the meaning of music themes. John Williams has always been very liberal in how he uses themes. He does spend a lot of time creating the "right" themes, but I don't think he spends a lot of time thinking deep meanings for them.
I agree that the theme seems to represent a more seductive aspect of the Ark/Medallion, and as Jay says, it always appears alongside with the main Arc theme, except for its first appearance (which is why it's usually associated with the Medallion).
Therefore, I agree that the theme is not necessarily a "Medallion theme", but rather a secondary melody associated with the Arc. (There's another hidden appearance of the theme, during the "Map Room" scene, where it's briefly quoted as well).
 
By the way, why do you say the theme is in Eb major? The theme is obviously in C minor, as is the main arc theme.

Surely as a society we’re collectively past the point of having to qualify our opinions as opinions.

To me it’s the most memorable part of the theme. I should be happy that he closed both TFA and TLJ with gorgeous string statements of it, but I really would’ve loved another cracking statement of it. However I was so pleasantly surprised at how much the other sections of the theme are treated in TROS that I can’t really complain. 
 
I was really moved by the beautiful piano statement of the intro chords in one very important part of the film. What an absolute treat.

They're nuts! The way it ended was fine. She was crazy anyway.

Just added Harry Potter 4, while not being part of the LLL expanded scores I might as well do the rest.

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Here some covers I ve made !

 

As promised, here's my mockups of a couple of Azkaban alternates that weren't recorded/on the set
 
 
 
 

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Make your own design!

Yes, and when I find myself listening to TLJ, it's these short little moments that are more fascinating. 

TLJ. It's not a bad score by any means, but it's obvious JW wasn't as inspired as he clearly was by TFA and TROS. Chalk that up to limited exotic locations and new characters, heavy reliance on temp tracks, or the lack of pushing from Johnson to get him to think outside the box. A Rey/Ren connection theme is the trilogy's greatest missed opportunity.

TLJ. It's not a bad score by any means, but it's obvious JW wasn't as inspired as he clearly was by TFA and TROS. Chalk that up to limited exotic locations and new characters, heavy reliance on temp tracks, or the lack of pushing from Johnson to get him to think outside the box. A Rey/Ren connection theme is the trilogy's greatest missed opportunity.

The underscore across the entire ST is lacking compared to the underscore across the OT and PT. JW seemed particularly inspired when it came to the underscore for TPM, where even non-thematic music had a level of polish, richness, and flow rarely found in the ST at all. To me, there are very few non-thematic musical gems in the ST compared to the PT.