Grade Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Nicholas Hooper

[Trumpeteer 302]

Nicholas Hooper composed a very nice debut score. What a surprise. I expected nothing great from the music. I give a B+.

What was completely exciting is how much he tried to stay away from the Harry Potter theme. I think he used it three times. For a composer working on his first feature and taking the reins from Doyle, who took the reins from Williams, he seemed to have had a lot of confidence, and probably a lot of help.

The Dolores Umbridge theme is quite charming. Totally appropriate music for the sequence. And the scene with the fireworks sounded very JW.

I don't remember a lot of the music in the scene where Sirius dies (a total shock to me, since I am staying away from the books to keep the surprises) but what I do remember was fascinating.

I must confess something: I cheated. I never listen to music from a new movie before seeing it for the first time, but they were playing the music on XM Radio Sunday night, and I heard a few minutes of music, specifically "Dolores Umbridge."

Oh, and Nicholas Hooper is ineligible for an Oscar this year. From the official Oscar rules:

Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award. This expressly excludes from eligibility all of the following:

a) supervisors

b) partial contributors (e.g., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work)

c) contributors working on speculation

d) scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music

e) scores diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs

f) scores assembled from the music of more than one composer.

He used music composed by John Williams. I know the Academy stretched the rules last year for "Babel," but I don't know if they'll let Hooper in the club based on this.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

If Horner was moninated for Aliens and Rosenman for Trek 4, then I don't see why Hooper cannot be nominated.

[Morlock 11]

I sincerely doubt he has the slightest chance. And forget the rules, they are totally irrelevant, they vote for who ever they like.

[Red 75]

Which is most of time the wrong person.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Considering the others scores of 2007, Hooper is in with a shot.

[Morlock 11]

Nah. The film has received the most mixed reviews of the series yet, the score has no OMG factor to make up for that, and Hooper is an unknown. Plus, it's a sequel score. The Village, The Good German, PoA might have defied some of these trends, but, let's face it, Hooper is (so far) no Newman, Howard or Williams. I think this will be a year of stallwarts. Desplat, Howard, R & T Newman, Elfman, maybe Doyle, maybe Marienelli. Gustavo could be there to, he's doing Sean Penn's new movie.

2007 looks to be a relatively sedate year.

EDIT: After reading the synopsis of the Penn film, I'd say Gustavo has a great chance.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

EDIT: After reading the synopsis of the Penn film, I'd say Gustavo has a great chance.

Good God, will somebody think of KM's health?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

With this acoustic guitar craze, the only John Williams who has a shot at the Oscars is this one:

[Morlock 11]

And he studied with Nicholas Hooper! It all comes together!

[Marian Schedenig 8,195]

(a total shock to me, since I am staying away from the books to keep the surprises)

That doesn't make sense.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It does if all you are interested in are the films.

[Morlock 11]

Yeah, I guess it does, to a certain extent. I know some one who didn't read LoTR when it became popular in the 70's because he was waiting for the movies to be made.

[Trumpeteer 302]

Marian, I have been to many movies based on books that I've read and have spent the whole movie wondering what was being added or removed. I didn't want to do that with Harry Potter. A lot of my friends told me to read the books when I originally wanted to after COS.

If I had read "Phoenix," I would have known the prophecy, would have known the outcome of the ending and wouldn't have gotten misty over Trelawney's sacking.

I know that Dumbledore dies in "Prince," but I don't know who and if I read the books that shock would be gone. I think when I saw "Phoenix" last night, I was the only one shocked about Sirius' death.

I'm very invested in the Harry Potter story, and it would be easy to pick up the books and know everything, instead of waiting until next year and 2010. But it's more fun this way.

But hey, I'm one of the few here that can wait until the movie comes out to listen to the score. I guess I'm weird.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It makes some sense to do it that way.

If you decide to read the books after the films have been made there's still a lot to discover.

[Marian Schedenig 8,195]

My point is that the books have far more tension and shock potential than the movies will ever have. They don't even come remotely close to doing what the books are capable of.

[Ray Barnsbury 8]

I can only understand Jeff's point of view by assuming that he values films as entertainment more than books...which is fine, I just don't see how else he could value the surprise of viewing the movies over reading the books.

Ray Barnsbury

[Datameister 2,044]

C. Utterly unimpressed with this fully-functional, fully bland score. A few moments made me go "ooh"...most did not.

[Salacius 7]

Bloody hell....this score really....really sucked.

It was worst than the last one and I thought that was impossible

We've just reached new heights of mediocrity

an 'F' from me

[Datameister 2,044]

I dunno...I mean, I kept thinking to myself, "Man, if I weren't a film score buff, I doubt this'd be bothering me..."

One thing that definitely irritated me was the synth-like sound of the glockenspiel that was used for Umbridge. Maybe it wasn't synthesized...but it sure didn't sound like an actual glockenspiel to me. Later, there were some rather annoying xylophone bits that also sounded synthesized.

- Datameister, who has nothing inherently against glockenspiels and xylophones, having even enjoyed playing them himself

[King Mark 3,631]

I reluctantly admit that the score in the film wasn't bad.Much better than Doyle's.

B

(Don't get me wrong I still miss Williams)

K.M.

[Datameister 2,044]

Honestly, I didn't find this latest work to be much of a step up from Doyle's work on GoF. In fact, I bought the GoF soundtrack--a choice I seldom think about and seldom feel proud of--but I won't be buying OotP.

[King Mark 3,631]

i didn't say it was good enough to BUY the c.d.,it just didn't suck as much as I thought it would.I think the light hearted approach to some scenes worked,because the movie still felt dark enough.

[bondo 33]

Just saw it. I haven't heard the score on CD yet, but it worked very well in the film. There were a few instances that tied in with The Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and those should have at least quoted Williams' themes. Good score overall. Crappy movie though - I caught myself checking my watch every 30 minutes or so. Dreadfully slow pacing. Not much really happened in the film, other than the fate of a secondary character. I found myself wondering what the point of the movie was in the overall scheme of things, and I couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. It seemed like they just had a slot to fill in the series and couldn't come up with anything new or important.

[Elmo Lewis 6]

I found myself wondering what the point of the movie was in the overall scheme of things, and I couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. It seemed like they just had a slot to fill in the series and couldn't come up with anything new or important.

Ooh, I so want to read your review of the sixth movie.

[Snowster 23]

There is an audio Interview (podcast) available with Nicholas Hooper! (scorenotes.com)

Nicholas Hooper:

"I had a great team... I had a team of orchestrators who transferred my midi files into music..."

"It seems that David is on as director, and I may be on as composer hopefully" (speaking of the next film)

-Snowster

[Morlock 11]

He gave an in depth interview to FSM. He seems to believe he knows a lot about orchestrating.

[robthehand 3]

He gave an in depth interview to FSM. He seems to believe he knows a lot about orchestrating.

How do you mean?

- Rob, who really needs to subscribe to FSM sometime...

[Morlock 11]

He speaks with a confidence that, based on this music, is not earned.

[MrScratch 294]

I like this score better than Doyle's, but I'm not ready to rate it.

Same here. My favorite track so far is "The Room of Requirement" it's fun and incredibly well orchestrated, very Williamsy without being a direct rip unlike "Possesion" which sounds too much like Gorecki's 3rd Symphony. Doyle's score could have used more cues like "Room of Requirement".

Jeff

[Joe Brausam 214]

Everytime I hear The Room of Requirement I am compelled to think about The Sorcerer's Apprentice, they just sound similar to me at some points.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

Nicholas Hooper:

"I had a great team... I had a team of orchestrators who transferred my midi files into music..."

So? Many prominent composers use MIDI files as their initial designs. Just because JW practcally orchestrates his own music doesn't mean everyone else should. We are living in the 21st Century...

[Morlock 11]

And midi could mean anything. JNH presents an orchestrator with the most perfect midi you've ever heard, that there really is very little left to orchestrate.

[Red 75]

Danny Elfman does it, too.

[Morlock 11]

Really? I've never heard that his orchestrations are done via midi.

[Red 75]

I know they're done with synths. I don't know about midis.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

Loved the movie, loved the score. VIVA LA HOOPER!

[Datameister 2,044]

On a second viewing/listen, the score isn't as bad as I thought the first time. My expectations were lower the second time. If I could, I'd probably revise my vote to a B-. I still don't find it to be anywhere near great, but there are some effective and lighthearted cues that I rather enjoyed. I stand by what I said about Umbridge's theme--the synthesized glockenspiel is a no-go. Compositionally, I suppose it's appropriate to the film's take on Umbridge, which I still think differs too much from the book's.

The cue for the first flying sequence to the Order's headquarters bothered me. Even as a percussionist, I thought the snare drum was too heavy and uninteresting. The rest of the music for that scene just annoyed me. I did rather like the music for the first scene at the Ministry, as well as the music for the scene when all the DA members are casting Patronuses. (Patroni?) The furious cello music for the Death Eaters near the end produced mixed feelings in me...in some shots, it works and feels appropriate, but it becomes a bit tiresome.

The ending still strikes me as remarkably unremarkable. The cheesy-but-could-have-been-even-cheesier ending to the film itself didn't help. Did anyone else think the cutoff of the last cue before the credits sounded strange? Almost as if the ending were cut short and artificial reverb were used.

I really did like that very brief fragment of Hedwig's theme in the montage near the end. Very effective, intelligent, and subtle writing. That earned Hooper a few bonus points in my book. The rest of the Hedwig's theme statements struck me as better than Doyle's wild, strange take on the theme, but I really, really miss hearing the B section big on French horn with wonderful string accompaniment. That was one of my favorite elements of HP:SS (and CoS, by extension).

[Henry B 50]

The funny thing is that both Doyle and Hooper used the B section as much as Williams did in Prisoner of Azkaban (all I can think of is the five seconds of original material at the end of "Lumos!").

[Datameister 2,044]

True. I missed it in PoA, too, though. PoA had enough great new material that I didn't miss it so much, but I've always felt that those big statements lent a lovely darkness to the first film. Oh well.

[Red 75]

POA is the best Potter score of all time!

[TIEfighter 0]

Seen the movie yesterday and I must say that i was not impressed neither with the movie nor with the soundtrack. The new variations of Hedwigs Theme sucked, but still they were the only memorable parts in the entire soundtrack other than the music during the flight through London, which sounded totally non-potteresque. Overall, its a D+ to me - no memorable themes, no real potter-feeling, no real "emotions". It´s my least favorite Potter score, and my least favorite potter movie.

1. POA

2. SS/PS

3. GOF

4. COS

5. OotP

[Henry B 50]

Were people expecting a light and whimsical score? I mean, since the movie's such a downer, the score should try to lift its spirits in compromise, right? Right?

The new variations of Hedwig's Theme are not spooky, fun and light-hearted, but they do actually convey some tension and darkness - what? Yes, darkness in Harry Potter! Unthinkable!

[Elmo Lewis 6]

"Things are geting darker in Hogwarts" is the most repeated phrase in all of the Harry Potter docs since CoS. It's also the most common way to describe each book in the media.

[Datameister 2,044]

POA is the best Potter score of all time!

I disagree. PoA is definitely a fun score, but I still prefer Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It's more repetitive in some parts, but I really enjoy that score.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Happy Pappy, Derivative, and every John Williams cliche in the book. The music sounded like John Williams, not Harry Potter.

Prisoner of Azkaban is lightyears ahead of that....and every other John Williams score since 1993, and to a lesser degree ahead of Phantom Menace and The Lost World.

That said, the Hedwig's Theme concert version stands as one of his greatest compositions, if not the greatest.

[Admiral Holdo 16]

I, to an extent, would have to agree with you. A lot of times I was expecting that studio-audience "Awwwwww" to show up.

[Red 75]

POA better than Phantom Menace?

Hmmmm.

[King Mark 3,631]

That said, the Hedwig's Theme concert version stands as one of his greatest compositions, if not the greatest.

so does Harry's Wondrous World

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Eh in terms of that vein of music, I prefer Leaving Hogwarts from Chamber of Secrets.

[Datameister 2,044]

Happy Pappy, ...

At times, yes. Those are the low points of the score, and luckily, most of the worst offenders aren't on the OST.

...Derivative, and every John Williams cliche in the book. The music sounded like John Williams, not Harry Potter.

Again, at times, yes. There are a few gawk-worthy self-plagiarisms that are almost as explicit as what you'd expect from a Horner score. But for the most part, I think they do fit the film rather well, despite their derivative nature.

Prisoner of Azkaban is lightyears ahead of that....and every other John Williams score since 1993, and to a lesser degree ahead of Phantom Menace and The Lost World.

This is where you're losing me. PoA excels in the originality department, but I just can't bring myself to enjoy it as much. I love the score, don't get me wrong. It's got some bizarre, highly original, interesting, and even fun music. But the best Williams score since 93? That's wayyyyyyy stretching it for me. I don't know if you're including the original Jurassic Park in that statement, but I prefer that score over PoA. I think PoA soars far beyond the reach of The Lost World, but TPM soars nearly as far ahead of PoA.

That said, the Hedwig's Theme concert version stands as one of his greatest compositions, if not the greatest.

My faith in your sanity is restored.

so does Harry's Wondrous World

I've always found it to fall under Blumenkohl's "happy pappy" category, but to each his own.

Eh in terms of that vein of music, I prefer Leaving Hogwarts from Chamber of Secrets.

Don't you mean from Sorcerer's Stone? There's a similar cue in Chamber of Secrets, but it's not as short and sweet. I like CoS's ending for what it is--huge, grandiose, and rather drawn-out. But for me, the original shines impeccably. I agree, however, that I'd take either one over "Harry's Wondrous World" any day.

- Datameister, who coincidentally has been playing the last section of "Leaving Hogwarts" on piano ad nauseum over the last few days, simply because he can't get enough of that cue and enjoys experiencing it both as a performer and as a listener