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Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 by Alexandre Desplat


Josh500

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actually KM it did. I will order this online and the dvd of the 30's film The Old Dark House so I can have free shipping.

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They're 30 second samples. THIRTY SECONDS. I honestly don't know what to say to those already dissing it.

You can tell...

I knew I was going to like Benjamen Button score from the samples, also Let Me In...etc..

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I love the examples save for the first track. Sky Battle sounds friggin awesome. I'm glad it sounds like Desplat and not half baked Williams. Only Williams can do Williams (we've heard so many inferior rip-offs over the years that proves this in spades). I love the energy and activity. I'm so excited about getting this. I pre-ordered the CD but I'll probably buy it off iTunes to satiate my need to hear this ASAP!

What I really like about these examples is, once again. the clarity of the writing. You can hear very distinct detailed section writing, not just a mass of sound. I really tire of that layered sound approach. Desplat is doing what all of the classic composers did- Herrmann used colors so effectively, even when musically he was just riffing on a simple motif. He knew how to dress it up with terrific chords and interesting instrumentation. Desplat does the same thing, He uses minimalist ideas and develops upon those kernel ideas to achieve forward motion. Yes, it doesn't have that melodic flowing virtuosity that Williams can apply but Desplat can write themes and is capable of terrific linear writing when called for

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Oh I wish someone could put together a list of 30-second samples for a good John Williams score that would make half of this board think it would suck if they had never heard it before.

No, I probably don't wish that.

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I'm not sure i like it. It's good, definately... but it's... it feels generic. Williams always makes a unique sound for a film and this... this doesn't sound unique... it sounds mature, yes... has that Elfman/Zimmer quality... but it doesn't sound like it has its own identity. I fear it will do well in the film, but not away from it.

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Sounds like someone stuck between Herrmann, a unique modern composer with a trademark voice, and John Williams.

I tentatively dig it.

It sounds nothing like Zimmer's crap. And frankly those commenters don't have any clue as to what they're talking about.

You should try that for the first Harry Potter. It'd be tough to make that sound bad, or Zimmer-ish, or just uninteresting.

Actually, I know for a fact ANY music encoded at the low bitrates of the samples will lose upper level clarity/textures and get boomy in the lows.

That's probably why many mistakenly are claiming to hear Zimmer's sound signatures. It's just the way the samples are encoded.

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There are times you are wise beyond your age.

The reactions here are typical, exactly as I have foreseen.

I could have almost written them word for word, well not that close but they've gone the way I've expected.

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I was just going to say, I started listening and it was like the stereotypical sound of Zimmer. I guess they really did temp it with his crap. You know the two note theme will be in there somewhere.

You guys must have clogged ears. The only track where it feels like a Zimmer-temped cue is "Obliviate" and perhaps "The Elder Wand." Tracks like "Ron Leaves", "Bathilda Bagshot" and "Snape to Malfoy Manor" are distinctly Desplat and so far removed from Zimmer's work it's not even funny.

Please listen to the full tracks and/or watch the score in context of the film. Thanks.

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Actually i'd argue the first sample sounds like something from Zimmer's Batman, and I swear one reminded me of The Lion King too...

Dobby sounds like something from Elfman (like for a video game like Fable)

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So I'm not the only one who thought the first one or two tracks sounded like At World's End?

That's not a bad thing. It's a 30 second sound clip. I can surely wait 17 days or so to hear the whole thing, and then the bashing will begin.

I was referring to the three or four note horn melody heard behind the driving strings in the first track, "Obliviate." I am not talking about any specific type of Zimmer sound or strategy. Just melodic similarity. That's it.

I hear this new melody, and without being able to hear the rest of it beyond the 30 second mark, my brain latches onto whatever I think it "sounds like" at the time. That particular portion of AWE is pretty good and atypical for Zimmer, but I'm not familiar with TDK or anything else recent.

I won't buy this before seeing the movie unless you guys twist my arm saying it's that good. I can't remember the last "new" release of a score that I tagged and put onto my iPod. It was well before LLR's "The Edge" so buying this now is a good bet it won't be heard before February.

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Sorry but none of these examples sound like Zimmer. Most of them have Desplat's signature sound- just because he uses repeating string figures doesn't mean he's Zimmer. If he was, he would double them all to hell with every other instrument in the orchestra as well as his own private sample collection making the expressive hard work of the real musicians sound plastic and synthetic. Desplat's sound always retains the organic acoustic quality of the orchestra. I like some Zimmer stuff but honestly, speaking as a composer myself, it doesn't sound natural or real to my ears. It never has and never will- except maybe As Good As it Gets and smaller projects like that. Clearly, the epic tone of Desplat's effort should not be compared to a radically different style and approach.

If you're concerned over the originator of such minimalist ideas, look to Philip Glass or perhaps John Adams for a fusion of minimalism and late Romantic harmonic marriage.

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Forgive me for not knowing the difference between three Desplat notes and three Zimmer notes.

If I buy this, it'll be the first Desplat into my collection.

I don't even have any Desplat footwarmers, and don't think I've watched a single film he composed for.

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These are 30 second clips people. What gets me excited is the fact that you can actually hear movement in the clips, they have a motion to them and i trust Desplat enough as a composer that beyond the 45 second point (where amazon tracks tend to take their samples from) he is moving each individual piece through different shades and variations musically (hell, you can hear that anyway in a couple of tracks). This isn't like a 'When Ginny kissed Harry' example, where a 20 second clip of Hooper's track would actually give a full representation of how that WHOLE piece sounds.

Also, Desplat is a good thematic composer, and i doubt he decided to change that aspect of his style for Deathly Hallows, so i look forward to hearing the full OST in a couple of weeks.

If you want another great example of Desplat at his best, go watch 'The Queen'. That film has such an interesting and very specific tone, and Desplat absolutely nailed it with his score.

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If I buy this, it'll be the first Desplat into my collection.

I don't even have any Desplat footwarmers, and don't think I've watched a single film he composed for.

Same here. Well, I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but the music struck me merely as unremarkably pleasant.

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Okay, how on earth does this sound like Zimmer??? Or blander than Hooper? Please. Yes, you really can't say much about a score after hearing 30 seconds samples, but this will by no means be blander than Hooper, nor as annoyingly over the top saccharine as Doyle's stuff, nor a Zimmer-like synth-fest. That said, I do hope we will actually hear some original Williams themes in the end.

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The thing one has to remember is that because Desplat does largely work in the realm of minimalism or has a minimalist mentality, some of his work takes time to develop momentum and 30 seconds cannot begin to encompass the totality of his cue musically speaking. Williams is so adept at writing themes and capable of such contrapuntal energy that 1 bar of Hedwig's Theme has more notes in it than a whole cue of anyone else. It's not a fair comparison to be frank. Or in this my case, Dave. :fouetaa:

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Williams is so adept at writing themes and capable of such contrapuntal energy that 1 bar of Hedwig's Theme has more notes in it than a whole cue of anyone else. It's not a fair comparison to be frank. Or in this my case, Dave. :fouetaa:

Williams has written enough themes without much contrapuntal energy so a fair comparison should only be done with two films exclusively aimed at small children (which DH certainly is not).

Et vóila:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcYVpZOBWq0

This sounds more like it, doesn't it?

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Gosh, listening to the clips again and realised how much I've missed Williams' nostalgic clarinet writing for the Potter scores. The clip of "Polyjuice Potion" has elements of the Past and Family themes that I very much enjoy.

Other thoughts:

"Bathilda Bagshot" reminds me of the Phoenix material from Powell's The Last Stand. Which is in no way bad as I love that score.

"Sky Battle" - finally, a non-JW action sequence in a Potter movie that actually uses the orchestra and their abilities. Not that dense and fast automatically means good, but I like what I hear.

I'm mostly interested in hearing how the score takes shape thematically. By the sound of it, it is colourful and rich. But for me a truly good score is bound by strong themes and variations thereof. Looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

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To me Desplat's work sounds tentatively promising. It shows some nice dark sophistication with oomph. It is very difficult to appraise from those 30 second clips how the music is going to turn out as they give you only a glimpse (many times very poorly or intentionally badly chosen) of any track on the album and the score as a whole. I was pleasantly surprised with half of the preview selections and the other half did not make immediate impact. I guess making the immediate impact in 30 seconds counts for many people towards forming an early opinion of whether to like or hate music but I reserve my final judgement after I have heard the entire album.

That said I have a rather dichotomous opinion of Desplat's work. He writes great melodies and nice themes (perhaps too many waltzes for my taste) and has an unmistakable compositional voice. His orchestrations are intricate, inventive and unusual and they exhibit great knack for finding most unlikely sounds or instrumental pairings and making them work together in an interesting way. To my mind he is half way between Morricone and Williams. Desplat's style while very sophisticated tends to veer away from open emotionalism, prefering to use more subtle means to convey emotion and high drama than bursts of full ensemble. This has served the films he has composed for very well and mostly his music fits the films like a glove and works quite well on the album. But for me he could have worn his heart on his sleeve a bit more.

On the other hand I do not know if it is the "sophistication" in Desplat's music but the rather airy, quirky and finely crafted style he exhibits in so many of his scores is taking its toll on me as a listener. There are of course a few exceptions in the recent times to this rule but usually one airy, light, quirky and suave Desplat score has followed another in the past years when he has been churning them out at top speed for European and American films alike. Perhaps Desplat's style is not entirely to my liking even though it has so many great qualities or the repetition of the same trademarks with little variation is just wearing me down. I would love to hear a truly robust even earthy and gritty score from him for a change. So I hope that the new Potter score lets loose some robust and thunderous Desplat music!

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An indisputable masterpiece of surpassing mastery and masterful brilliance. With Deathly Hallows, Desplat has cemented his legacy as the heir to Mozart and Beethoven for whom we've been waiting for so long. Anyone who says otherwise is not a real film music fan and probably does not deserve to live.

IMHO, of course.

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An indisputable masterpiece of surpassing mastery and masterful brilliance. With Deathly Hallows, Desplat has cemented his legacy as the heir to Mozart and Beethoven for whom we've been waiting for so long. Anyone who says otherwise is not a real film music fan and probably does not deserve to live.

IMHO, of course.

You are such a kidder :fouetaa:

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There are times you are wise beyond your age.

The reactions here are typical, exactly as I have foreseen.

I could have almost written them word for word, well not that close but they've gone the way I've expected.

I knéw you were going to say that.

:fouetaa:

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You can't possibly judge a score based on heavily compressed, 30 second samples. We don't know how they chose the sections either - randomly?

This is my potential first Desplat score. I've got a few cues, but his normal sound doesn't do anything for me.

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ok, so you can't tell from 30 second samples

However, I don't hear anything in those sample that makes me think this is going to be some great musical masterpiece (except the cue I mentioned Destroying the Locket) .It seems to confirm my fear that Desplat is too "limited" to score an epic movie like this

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ok, so you can't tell from 30 second samples

However, I don't hear anything in those sample that makes me think this is going to be some great musical masterpiece (except the cue I mentioned Destroying the Locket) .It seems to confirm my fear that Desplat is too "limited" to score an epic movie like this

I think you made that decison long ago.

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I hate to judge this on the 30 second samples because they are, after all, 30 second samples, but this sounds pretty uninteresting. Like Desplat on autopilot. Unlike Williams who writes truly appropriate music, I feel like Desplat just wrote this so it would sound good over the scenes.

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Unlike Williams who writes truly appropriate music, I feel like Desplat just wrote this so it would sound good over the scenes.

Translate: music more to your liking Like KM, you seem to have a narrow view on how those things must be treated, musically.

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There are times you are wise beyond your age.

The reactions here are typical, exactly as I have foreseen.

I could have almost written them word for word, well not that close but they've gone the way I've expected.

I knéw you were going to say that.

:fouetaa:

I've been here too damn long.... :)

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ok, so you can't tell from 30 second samples

However, I don't hear anything in those sample that makes me think this is going to be some great musical masterpiece (except the cue I mentioned Destroying the Locket) .It seems to confirm my fear that Desplat is too "limited" to score an epic movie like this

Anyone expecting any film score to be a masterpiece is a fool.

Not you personally, KM. I know you weren't implying that you were expecting that. But let's be realistic.

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I don't know, it sounds great to me. But it's still very difficult to fully commit to liking a film score without seeing it in context. I've had many scores(even Williams) that I couldn't get into, and may have even disliked prior to seeing the film where it is featured. But that's me.

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I think people just wanted this to be a masterpiece, but it honestly sounds average.

We need composers capable of composing masterpieces that we can look forward to. So far Giacchino and Desplat, the 2 biggest hopes, haven;t done that

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I think people just wanted this to be a masterpiece, but it honestly sounds average.

No, most just want a good score.

Even Williams' HP scores aren't masterpieces. They are very good but not top 5 material.

I would also suggest one think of the subject matter, the material for the last two films is much darker so one can probably expect the scores to not be all light and charming.

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I think people just wanted this to be a masterpiece, but it honestly sounds average.

No, most just want a good score.

Even Williams' HP scores aren't masterpieces. They are very good but not top 5 material.

I would also suggest one think of the subject matter, the material for the last two films is much darker so one can probably expect the scores to not be all light and charming.

there are several here who would argue that Sorcerer's Stone is a masterpiece or damned near it, and probably more who would say POA is a masterpiece. I would argue the former. It's a 4.5 to 5 star score IMHO, and better than anything else JW has scored in the past 10 years.

I would be happy if A. D.'s score is just good and fits the film well.

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I wouldn't expect light and charming. PoA is mostly not light and charming, and it's my favorite Potter score.

I do think many people wanted a masterpiece though. Your opinion(which I agree with) that the HP scores aren't masterpieces seems not to be with that of the vocal majority. There were definitely high expectations for this score, and from what I've heard, they haven't been met. Who knows, though. I thought Up, Lost, and Memoirs of a Geisha were boring crap until I heard them in context and fell in love with them.

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I think sorceror's stone is in no way near a masterpiece. Great themes, yes, but that's about all I get out of it. Even the recording sessions haven't painted it in a new light for me. Much of the music i find to be absolutely grating and annoys me to no end. Not only that, but to me it feels like a less than worthy offspring of Hook and Home Alone.

Chamber of Secrets is an improvement from my point of view, much less annoying to listen to. Azkaban is brilliant, I love it. But Sorcerer's Stone? No thanks.

Of course this is just my opinion, I'm glad it has so many fans if it that enjoy it more than I do.

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So is anyone else resisting listening to the samples and waiting for the OST or movie? Or am I standing on a little island on this one as usual?

I listened and liked what I heard. Someone mentioned the clarinet writing, and I agree, it's great to hear woodwind writing! That's actually one of the things I love most about Elmer Bernstein scores, how much effective woodwind writing he used and the textures he created with them. No one in Hollywood wrote for woodwinds quite as prominently or as well as Elmer did, in my opinion.

I have high hopes from these samples, and I don't think I'll be disappointed.

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And now a hearty SHUT UP EVERYONE to all those judging this score by those bloody 30sec samples. It's inane and i can make a long list of good Williams scores which sound absolutely unspectacular when compressed into those samples. So...

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Wow, what a ripoff. I just saw what's included on the bonus disc in the deathly hallows deluxe box. Lame six new tracks are included and for that they charge 70 dollars!!!

http://www.wbshop.com/Harry-Potter-and-the-Deathly-Hallows-Part-1-Limited-Edition-Collectors-Set/1000182984,default,pd.html?cgid=music

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