Harry Potter - Children's Suite

[fommes 153]

There wasn't a thread yet devoted to this yet. (Edited to contain full info in first post.)

The Children's Suite:

I. Hedwig's Flight

= "Prologue" on OST

II. Hogwarts Forever

partially presented on OST (first half of "Hogwarts Forever! and The Moving Stairs")

III. Voldemort

IV. Nimbus 2000

on the Silva Screen rerecording

V. Fluffy and His Harp

= Fluffy's Harp on OST

VI. Quidditch

VII. Family Portrait

on As Time Goes By album (Berlin Philharmonic)

VIII. Diagon Alley

first part can be found on OST. Two different versions exist: the second has a fuller symphonic ending.

IX. Harry's Wondrous World

= version on the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets CD

The Suite for Orchestra:

I. Hedwig's Theme

= the long version on the OST

II. The Sorcerer's Stone

= "Three Note Loop" from the recording sessions

III. Nimbus 2000

(the same as in the Children's Suite)

IV. Harry's Wondrous World

(the Chamber of Secrets version)

This is what's been recorded at the recording sessions, separately from the film cues (see the HP:SS cue list thread):

Diagon Alley (Children's Suite)

Family Portrait (Children's Suite)

Hedwig's Theme (Children's Suite)

Hogwarts Forever (Children's Suite)

Nimbus 2000 (Children's Suite)

Quidditch (Children's Suite)

Voldemort (Children's Suite)

[TownerFan 4,983]

The Children's Suite has been performed in several concerts. Williams also conducted sometimes a few selections here and there. Apparently, it was fully recorded during the HPPS sessions in London back in 2001. Most of it ended up in the OST CD, while other parts remain still unreleased.

Here's a break-down:

I. Hedwig's Flight = Abridged version of Hedwig's Theme; "Prologue" on the OST (Track 1)

II. Hogwarts Forever = Piece for horn quintet based on the Hogwarts/Gryffyndor theme; first half of "Hogwarts Forever! and The Moving Stairs" on the OST.

III. Voldemort = small piece based on the Three-Note Loop theme and Voldemort's motif, performed by two bassoons and contrabassoon; Never officially released.

IV. Nimbus 2000 = Playful piece for woodwinds only, based on the motif for Harry's magic broom; Recorded by the City of Prague for a HP compilation album (can't remember the name, sorry)

V. Fluffy and His Harp = Duet for harp and contrabasson. "Fluffy's Harp" on the OST CD.

VI. Quidditch = Piece for brass ensemble only based on the Quidditch motif; Never officially released.

VII. Family Portrait = Piece for small strings ensemble and clarinet based on Harry's theme and the Family's theme; recorded by the 12 cellists of the Berliner Philharmoniker on As Time Goes By album.

VIII. Diagon Alley = Piece for violin, recorders, harp and small percussion ensemble based on the Diagon Alley motif; the first portion is found at the beginning of "Diagon Alley and the Gringotss Vault" track on the OST CD. The full piece concludes with an exciting symphonic coda. Never officially released in full.

IX. Harry's Wondrous World = Full orchestra recapitulation of all main Harry Potter themes; actual concert version found on the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets OST CD (last track). The version found on the HPPS CD ends with a different, soft coda (probably written to segue into "Hedwig's Theme" for the end credit roll).

[Greg1138 3]

I think I'm right in saying that the "Nimbus 2000" movement is the same in both suites.

[fommes 153]

And what about "The Sorcerer's Stone"?

[Datameister 2,037]

Maurizio's assessment is spot-on. Furthermore, you can hear "Quidditch" and the second half of "Diagon Alley" in t

. Oh, also, the orchestral ending to the latter is optional, and apparently was written later - according to Bill Wrobel's breakdown, it doesn't show up in the original manuscripts. That video reflects this. "Quidditch" also starts with an opening fanfare that doesn't show up in the published music, but based on Bill's descriptions, I think that was probably in the manuscripts, too.

It should also be noted that there's an unused film version of "Diagon Alley" that contains elements similar to the children's suite version. As far as I know, only a snippet of the beginning (heard in the film as they enter the alley) and the second half (heard in Gringotts) are available.

[Diego 21]

And what about "The Sorcerer's Stone"?

I think that's unique to the orchestra suite. I heard it when Erich Kunzel performed it here and as I remember it's just the stone theme, getting louder. It must be different from Voldemort's theme on the children suite, cause I don't remember hearing Voldemorts theme on the piece.

[Datameister 2,037]

Yeah, they're different pieces. "Voldemort" does contain the sorcerer's stone theme at the beginning and end, but it's just the two bassoons and the contrabassoon, and the entire middle of the piece is devoted to Voldemort's actual themes. "The Sorcerer's Stone" seems to have been written after the children's suite, as it doesn't show up in Bill Wrobel's breakdown of what was written with the rest of the score.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

Here's a YouTube compilation of the entire Children's Suite:

 

[Holko 9,499]

That full Diagon Alley is my favourite.

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I like Quidditch and Voldemort, the latter especially for its simplicity.

[bollemanneke 3,337]

Some random questions:

An earlier post said the diagon Alley ending is optional. Does that mean Hal Leonard also includes the ending JW recorded?

What's going on with Quidditch? How is the recording different from the published material?

Is The Sorcerer's Stone exactly the same as Three Note Loop?

Could anyone possibly list which instruments are used in which movements (HWW excluded?)