Does anyone here dislike or hate Hedwig's Theme

[Datameister 2,044]

I like Hedwig's Theme. A lot. As someone who's only heard snippets of Hook, I won't dare make any comment on its originality or supposed lack thereof. All I know is that the theme is great fun for me to listen to and/or play, and it works really well in HP:SS. Yes, it's overused, but it still manages to work every time. It felt like old news in CoS--mainly because it wasn't really developed at all--but CoS really is a special case all its own. I felt a sort of begrudging respect toward Williams for using it so little in PoA, as going overboard with it would have been the obvious choice. Keeping it so subdued and infrequent actually makes it more special when it does make appearances. Doyle butchered it for the most part, and Hooper tossed it around in blandly inoffensive ways.

I really like the concert suite, too. Williams has certainly written other themes of comparable melodic greatness, but this one strikes me as one of his very finest suites, as far as structure and variety and lack of repetitiveness go. It starts off straightforward, with statements of the A and B sections building in complexity. Then Williams brings in the flying theme, and the two themes take turns mutating and growing into something grander and more ominous. Then it culminates in one of Williams' stranger finishes, with all those augmented chords and the false ending. Great stuff, all of it. Some of Williams' concert suites make me think, "Man, that's such a great theme, but it could have been developed better in the suite." Not so with Hedwig's Theme, which I honestly wouldn't change one bit.

[Ollie 1,059]

I don't have a life.

I work.

Same here.

[pixie_twinkle 48]

Hedwig's theme gave me goosebumps the first time I saw the Harry Potter preview. After I'd seen the preview three times I had memorised the theme and worked out a piano transcription. It's a truly excellent piece and I challenge anyone who says otherwise to a duel at sunrise.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I don't have a life.

I work.

Same here.

You pretty much sell your soul and body when you decide to work for corporate America with the hopes of getting any

where.  Doesn't matter if it's numbers or in art.   

[HPFAN_2 0]

I just thought of something. Double Trouble/Something Wicked This Way Comes is pretty much the theme of POA. If hypothetically speaking Williams had thought of this melody first, before Hedwig's theme and instead used it as the theme for the series would it work? Maybe.

[Morlock 11]

I think that the theme is not attached with Harry. It is specifically related to the castle, and, most prominantly, the mischievous attitude of the film. I get a totally different feel from it than I do from Hedwig's theme.

[King Mark 3,631]

Yeah,Double Trouble is closer to the film version of "Entry into the Great Hall" form HPPS.It doesn't have the scope of Hewig's theme but it's still one of my favourite HP themes

[HPFAN_2 0]

This is a testament then to how well Hedwig's theme fits within the Harry Potter world. How well it captured its magic beyond even the movies.

[Trumpeteer 302]

In the first film, it suffers from too much similar repetition in the first half. But then again it would probably not be so famous if it were not so. I like the concert version, and the second half of the score the most from the first score. The theme itself is great, but used a little too much at first for me.

By this argument, the Imperial March drives you nuts.

When I watched the "Sorcerer's Stone" trailer for the first time, I didn't know JW wrote music specifically for it. I thought, as usual, the music was used from another film. I thought it was great music and wanted to find out who wrote it.

Then I heard the music over the Warner Bros. logo when the movie started, and I fell in love. I'm still in love with that theme, and the concert version is indeed one of the best compositions of the 21st century.

Given the way it's been re-orchestrated over each new movie, it shows that it has a life well into the final film.

[Datameister 2,044]

If hypothetically speaking Williams had thought of this melody first, before Hedwig's theme and instead used it as the theme for the series would it work? Maybe.

It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it'd work anywhere near as well. As Morlock pointed out, it's not merely a variation on Hedwig's theme--it's an entirely different, discrete musical idea that gives off a very different feel. It's well-suited to PoA, but it wouldn't capture the spooky, mature-yet-childlike wonderment of the first film. The second film...meh, I really don't care.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I loved the theme since I fell in love with in The Halloween Tree.

[Henry B 50]

If hypothetically speaking Williams had thought of this melody first, before Hedwig's theme and instead used it as the theme for the series would it work? Maybe.

It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it'd work anywhere near as well. As Morlock pointed out, it's not merely a variation on Hedwig's theme--it's an entirely different, discrete musical idea that gives off a very different feel. It's well-suited to PoA, but it wouldn't capture the spooky, mature-yet-childlike wonderment of the first film. The second film...meh, I really don't care.

Hahaha. Speaking of which, Hedwig's theme is pathetic in Chamber of Secrets. It's just one "meh" variation or copy/paste after another. Not a damn thing happens to the theme.

[John Crichton 4]

Hahaha. Speaking of which, Hedwig's theme is pathetic in Chamber of Secrets. It's just one "meh" variation or copy/paste after another. Not a damn thing happens to the theme.

There are two good ones: the opening titles, and the unreleased statement right before Harry frees Dobby. Other than that, yeah, it was just direct quotes of SS statements.

And about Double Trouble, it's hard to call it a main theme when it disappears halfway through the score. And if you want great development of a theme, just listen to the Past theme as it works its way through the score, one of Williams' greatest jobs ever on that front.

[Datameister 2,044]

Hahaha. Speaking of which, Hedwig's theme is pathetic in Chamber of Secrets. It's just one "meh" variation or copy/paste after another. Not a damn thing happens to the theme.

Which is exactly why I really wouldn't care if Double Trouble magically replaced Hedwig's theme in that movie.

[Henry B 50]

Hahaha. Speaking of which, Hedwig's theme is pathetic in Chamber of Secrets. It's just one "meh" variation or copy/paste after another. Not a damn thing happens to the theme.

There are two good ones: the opening titles, and the unreleased statement right before Harry frees Dobby. Other than that, yeah, it was just direct quotes of SS statements.

The main title is just a hasty abbreviation of the beginning of concert "Hedwig's Theme," so it doesn't sound that great. (Azkaban also opens this way, but Cuaron's wisdom in letting the music guide the scene and leaving it unedited makes the listening much better). As for freeing Dobby, it's pretty good when the strings come in, and I like that muted trombone chord as Malfoy glares campily - the whole tone of the music is still very similar to Philosopher's Stone, though. Like most of Chamber, it doesn't advance or change the musical tone of the series at all (only the new main themes attempt this). Hedwig's theme actually feels quite a bit different in Prisoner of Azkaban; it's usually still performed by celesta, but its placement is within pastoral cues and its performance quite slower and more contemplative. Needless to say, its feeling in Goblet of Fire is totally different, and Order of the Phoenix is... well, sort of different.

By the way, going through the Chamber of Secrets menus I've noticed quite a bit of unreleased music (yeah, most of this music is derivative/infantile, but the Williams/Harry Potter completist in me wants to rip it).

[John Crichton 4]

The main title is just a hasty abbreviation of the beginning of concert "Hedwig's Theme," so it doesn't sound that great.

Yeah, but I like how it gets to the point a bit quicker, as well as some of the different orchestral flourishes. I actually prefer it as a piece of music to the opening of Azkaban, although definatley the opening of Azkaban has a Spielbergian feel to it, with the film edited to the score rather than the other way around.

By the way, going through the Chamber of Secrets menus I've noticed quite a bit of unreleased music (yeah, most of this music is derivative/infantile, but the Williams/Harry Potter completist in me wants to rip it).

You know you want to, give in to your anger......or something.

Seriously, I never realized, I'm going to have to poke around those myself. Now that I've gotten the overhaul of my SS rip done I've been thinking about going ahead and doing CoS again.

[Henry B 50]

The main title is just a hasty abbreviation of the beginning of concert "Hedwig's Theme," so it doesn't sound that great.

Yeah, but I like how it gets to the point a bit quicker, as well as some of the different orchestral flourishes. I actually prefer it as a piece of music to the opening of Azkaban, although definatley the opening of Azkaban has a Spielbergian feel to it, with the film edited to the score rather than the other way around.

By the way, going through the Chamber of Secrets menus I've noticed quite a bit of unreleased music (yeah, most of this music is derivative/infantile, but the Williams/Harry Potter completist in me wants to rip it).

You know you want to, give in to your anger......or something.

Seriously, I never realized, I'm going to have to poke around those myself. Now that I've gotten the overhaul of my SS rip done I've been thinking about going ahead and doing CoS again.

d1 features most of the "Greenhouse Flourish" of Hedwig's theme as an introduction, though it fades into other music at the end, and the main menu screen features some unreleased music for the Dursleys being pissed off that leads into "Escape from the Dursleys." d2 features some music from the Burrow on the main menu screen, though there are some fire crackling sound effects on top (I'm not sure if these are separate elements that can be ripped or not).

What I've noticed so far, anyway.

[crocodile 8,020]

I like it, but at the same tame, I feel there should be far less of it in PS.

Karol