Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 by Alexandre Desplat

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I found that a couple of days ago and posted it in this thread:

http://jwfan.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14389&view=findpost&p=673855

Sounds good to me; I hope there'll be a release of some kind of the rest of the music.

[Incanus 5,715]

I am slowly getting into the new score by Desplat. His themes certainly are more subtle but strangely memorable in their own way. I guess the world of wizardry has to change and Desplat says in the Film Music Magazine interview that Harry has to deal with the real world and less with the magical world. Desplat's music certainly illustrates that. I am not ready to claim this the score of the year but it certainly has improved since the first listen.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I am slowly getting into the new score by Desplat. His themes certainly are more subtle but strangely memorable in their own way. I guess the world of wizardry has to change and Desplat says in the Film Music Magazine interview that Harry has to deal with the real world and less with the magical world. Desplat's music certainly illustrates that. I am not ready to claim this the score of the year but it certainly has improved since the first listen.

I am glad you are giving it another chance, with a great illustration of the ridiculousness of the theory some lay claim to that the idea that if music doesn't immediately grab you on the first listen, it's not worth pursuing.

[crocodile 8,013]

I'm also looking forward to delve deeper into this music. I've heard it already, but I'm waiting for my CD to arrive (which should happen tomorrow or the day after that). Desplat, especially his bigger scores, require more time and patience sometimes. But it's worth it most of the time. I remember that The Golden Compass started to open up after 5-6 listens. Right now it's one of my favourite scores of the last decade.

Karol

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I will say that I liked Desplat's music more than Hooper and Doyle's. I was watching GOF last night and the music is awful. Not all of it, but seriously, the big cheesy stuff like the ball? What in God's name was the director going on about when he trashed JW's style. And he favored THIS kind of stuff? All of his fanfares throughout for the tournament are just cheesy and annoying. And it's not exactly related, but what were they thinking with that wizard rock band?

The single cue that I favor from GOF is the bathtub scene with the egg song.

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The problem with GoF is they tried to make the music tell the audience THIS IS A BIG MOVIE AND IT'S ALL VERY SPECTACULAR ISN'T IT COOL?! when the film's visuals already support this. Something that Yates (and I think Cuaron similarly) did understand. I haven't heard Desplat's score yet, but there's a clear choice made on OotP and HBP to let the music primarily underscore the characters and emotion rather than the grand environments and magical whimsy. And it works quite well, I might add.

[crocodile 8,013]

I've seen the movie only once and remember that that I didn't like the music as married to the picture. Not quite sure why. But I do enjoy the album very much. In fact I was listening to it the other day and I still like it for what it is.

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I'm continuing to find all these little moments in this score that are really great. 2:20 into "Hermione's Parents" yummylicious. The col legno strings and the choir, sweetly creepy as hell.

On another note, all I have to say about "The Deathly Hallows" wheeew, when you see it in the movie, the music flows to the strokes of the brush.

Oh and Rupert Grint? Damn the boy can act. He's a strong dramatic actor, bottled up in a comedic role. But boy does he shine above an beyond the other two in this movie!

[David Coscina 3]

Desplat is the only current composer whose music I can listen to and enjoy without having seen the film. Everyone else I have to watch the film to gain more appreciation for the score including Powell, Giacchino, Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Howard Shore, etc. Yared can write amazing music that I enjoy but clearly Hollywood doesn't care about him so we don't get a lot domestically from him these days.

[crocodile 8,013]

His Amelia score was really nice. A bit repetitive, but nice nontheless.

Karol

[David Coscina 3]

Point is that I can enjoy Yared's and Desplat's score as pure listening compared to many scores these days that need the film to give them some context. I know it's not essential for a composer to write music that stands apart from the film but I got into soundtracks in the first place (back in the '70s) BECAUSE of this very thing. Were there better composers back then? Yes. Are there good "film" composers nowadays? Yes. I just don't seem to prefer the "film" composers to the composers who wrote for film 20-30 years ago. Simple as that.

[crocodile 8,013]

I got your point. And I would add Christopher Gordon to that list. He's probably even better than Desplat. At least from the point of the pure musical experience.

Karol

[David Coscina 3]

I got your point. And I would add Christopher Gordon to that list. He's probably even better than Desplat. At least from the point of the pure musical experience.

Karol

Yes Chris Gordon is indeed a composer first and foremost. I totally agree. I haven't seen Mao's Last Dancer but I love his music for it. It paints a beautiful portrait for the listener without needing the film.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I very much like Christopher Gordon's music for Moby Dick and On the Beach and Mao's Last Dancer contains some very good stuff,

most notably the melody from the opening track. Give the man a proper film assignment already!!!

[crocodile 8,013]

And Daybreakers might be the best score of the year. He can sure emulate (I'm not saying he does that specifically) Williams' "religious" string writing very well. You know, like in the Born in the Fourth of July suite and A Prayer for Peace. Great stuff!

Karol

[Mr. Breathmask 555]

The problem with GoF is they tried to make the music tell the audience THIS IS A BIG MOVIE AND IT'S ALL VERY SPECTACULAR ISN'T IT COOL?! when the film's visuals already support this.

The worst offender probably is Death Of Cedric (lame track title, by the way). You can actually feel the music telling you : THIS IS A SAD MOMENT. YOU HAVE TO CRY. YOU HAVE TO BE SAD. It's so unsubtle it's not even funny.

And the worst thing about that one is that it violently intrudes upon what is probably the best moment in the film: the pompous little Hogwarts band that starts to play their jolly little song as the corpse of Cedric violently slams into the ground - a great cinematic counterpoint that is ruined by the sledgehammer-subtle string piece that interrupts it.

To tell you the truth, I was really annoyed by the way Goblet of Fire was scored last time I saw it. It's not that I dislike the music on its own - most of it is okay to quite nice actually. It's the idea the film promotes that whenever there's music it has to be HUGE and thickly orchestrated. There's no middle ground. It's either a thick layer of flourishing score of no score at all.

Then again that movie has more problems than just its approach to music.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Datameister 2,043]

I agree as well. It's just too big, and not big in the tastefully awesome way that Williams accomplishes.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Anyways, I'm a little disappointed in the mixing of the score. It's a little bottom heavy, and it sucks the life out of the orchestra.

If you want a mix a little closer to what Prisoner of Azkaban's mix apply a similar EQ to the similar frequencies on the EQ provided by your music player:

The boost around 1 khz and 3 khz is the gist of it, and kicking down some of the mid bass at 200 Hz

After doing that listen to the beginning of Sky Battle in 20 seconds. It literally sparkles.

Sadly in the official mix those sparkles are missing.

[Joe Brausam 214]

And Daybreakers might be the best score of the year. He can sure emulate (I'm not saying he does that specifically) Williams' "religious" string writing very well. You know, like in the Born in the Fourth of July suite and A Prayer for Peace. Great stuff!

Karol

Well Karol, thanks for selling me my first Christopher Gordon score then! You compared it to BOTFJ and Munich, so I'm in - I just ordered myself a copy!

[crocodile 8,013]

What have I done?

No, the score is worth buying. And it needs positive word of mouth, badly. Because few people are actually aware of its existence. So if you're not satisfied at all... you have no taste whatsoever!

Karol

[David Coscina 3]

I did an interview with Gordon last year and he's as nice as they come. He knows a tremendous amount about music and while I love what Desplat did with HP I now cant stop wondering what a Gordon HP would have sounded like. I also would have loved to hear his version of LOTR.

Truthfully Gordon is a better composer than like 75% of whose currently popular in Hollywood.

BTW his theme from Moby Dick would have made a superb Star Trek theme. Majestic, bold, and stirring.

[crocodile 8,013]

Moby Dick reminds me of the swashbuckling parts of Jaws, The Sea Hawk and George Fenton's BBC scores. Though these last came a bit later.

BTW my Deathly Hallows CD arrived today. I'm going to give it an in-depth listen later

Karol

[Incanus 5,715]

Moby Dick reminds me of the swashbuckling parts of Jaws, The Sea Hawk and George Fenton's BBC scores. Though these last came a bit later.

BTW my Deathly Hallows CD arrived today. I'm going to give it an in-depth listen later

Karol

Yes the Gordon's Moby Dick certainly conjured memories of Williams' and Korngold's seafaring music in its most energetic parts and the feel of the open sea in the expansive thematic ideas and is a great listening experience, almost like a tone poem of the story, colorful and extremely well orchestrated and with great thematic development and ideas constantly developing throughout the album. I do not know how well the music works in the film itself but the album as I said works marvellously on its own. I wish Gordon would get bigger chances in the future for he is certainly a very interesting composer with a slightly old fashioned (in a good way) sensibility and outlook on film music. His film music has a feel of concert music, a certain quality that speaks of composer's intent of writing good and strong music that serves the picture and also works on its own as pure music.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I need to start listening to this guy.

Huh, turns out I have two scores by him. Master And Commander and Salem's Lot.

[Ollie 1,059]

Idiot!

[David Coscina 3]

Koray, you should definitely check out Daybreakers which I think is a little more enjoyable listening as it balances the horror aspects of the vampirism (stark Octatonic scale choral stuff) with more emotive string work for the human aspect. also, his Mao's Last Dancer is a beautiful score. I actually think it might garner some Oscar attention because of how melodic and integral the music is in the film. It depends on whether the filmmakers can get the attention it deserves.

Moby Dick is an epic score. Its probably one of the biggest scores you could find written for a TV movie. The thing I appreciate about Gordon is that he can achieve a colossal sound without having to use a huge orchestra. He's got orchestration chops and then some. I don't want to go too off topic on this thread but I do think perhaps Gordon would have supplied a more consistent tone to Harry Potter for most fans. I honestly do think Desplat hit a home run but I was already a fan of his so I like his style. Gordon does use minimalism in his music too but he leans more to strong melodies/themes perhaps a little moreso. And at the end of the day, his harmonic choices obviously resound with more film score fans than Desplat whose style has been called "cold" by a number of people- some of whom (Mark Olivarez and Erik Woods) whose opinions I do respect so there probably is something to this.

[Docteur Qui 1,544]

I've been listening to a bit of Christopher Gordon's stuff lately, and greatly enjoying it. He is a true craftsman with an eye for orchestral detail. Better still, he's an Australian composer, and his work is being recognised. Gives me hope that there actually is work in the local industry for me in the future.

[David Coscina 3]

Gordon really is an untapped commodity. I would be perfectly happy with more Gordon scores and less Tyler, Bates, Badelt, Jablonsky, etc etc etc. He actually has his own sound.

[Incanus 5,715]

Here for those who have not yet heard the CD and want to take a listen of the entire album: AOL Listening party

[crocodile 8,013]

So finally I gave it a first proper listen. I like it overall. Both The Twilight Saga: New Moon and The Golden Compass are better scores in my opinion, but there is plenty to admire here. I like the theme for the trio quite a bit. The action music is good. What I like about it is that he never overuses his ensemble, even when his music is big.

I can understand why most people seem not to respond to it though. Desplat is much more introverted composer in a sense that it takes some effort from the listener to get the most out of his work. I like that, because it gives me as a listener something to do (as strange as it may sound). Also, it doesn't seem to conjure any immediate emotion. I have not problem with that personally, but I can understand that this is a fantasy film and that's what people want: soaring wondrous music. And this is not what Desplat delivers most of the time. There is magic to be found in his output, but on much smaller and intimate scale. By the matter of fact, I listened yesterday to The Girl with a Pearl Earring and Birth and they are both much more magical than his work on Harry Potter.

Having said all that, I really enjoy this score. If anything, it certainly proves Desplat has his own voice and I'm always amazed how well his economic and precise approach works in the movies he scores. It's certainly not intrusive, but, most often than not, it works well with the sound mix of the film.

The only problem I have with this score as presented on the album is that it looses steam towards the end. I can imagine this is mainly because of the unresolved nature of the film itself.

Has anybody listened to the downloadable Surround mix?

Karol

[David Coscina 3]

Karol, nice observations. I agree to some extent about this not being as memorable as New Moon which had that wonderful Dreamcatcher theme and the Volturie waltz. To me I believe Desplat was a little too self conscious about aping Williams' style for HP and that prevented him from providing his own thematic talents. Benjamin Button has a lot of emotion for me and there are parts if HP that also evoke a visceral response but on a smaller scale compared to the composer's previous efforts.

[crocodile 8,013]

Surprisingly, when he "apes" Williams' action music it feels more like a chase scene from Jurassic Park than HP.

Karol

[Charlie Brigden 7]

So apparently the yanks get three bonus tracks with their iTunes version - 'Voldemort', 'The Dumbledores' and 'Bellatrix'.

[Jay 37,364]

Bastards!

[David Coscina 3]

I got my iTunes version this morning and I'm waiting for the CD to arrive. I deleted the 128kbps version pretty much immediately and the 256kbps version is much much better. The detail in the writing comes out much better and it makes a difference in over-all listening enjoyment. I know the CD will be even moreso. Love to hear it in 5.1 surround as well.

I really enjoy this disc. It's got some truly intimate moments that I would say are pleasant addition to the franchise. I love those tentative string crescendos on "Harry and Ginny". It's something we don't hear much in film scores- I have to go back to Conti's Rocky in fact to hear that kind of phrasing.

I was on a bit of a John Powell HTTYD kick for a couple weeks and like that score quite a bit except that it's a little excessive in the dynamics and doubling dept from time to time (a criticism that is consistent amongst even the biggest advocates of the score)and the thing I really enjoy about Desplat's HP by comparison is that it breaths. There are moments where you hear a solo cello, you hear the staccato flutes, there's exposed instrumental writing. Sometimes a solo instrument can carry as much weight as 100 playing en masse. Herrmann knew this and I hear Desplat paying respect to the film and his music in the same manner.

[King Mark 3,631]

So apparently the yanks get three bonus tracks with their iTunes version - 'Voldemort', 'The Dumbledores' and 'Bellatrix'.

just download them from somewhere else

[Jay 37,364]

Are they any good?

[King Mark 3,631]

Dunno yet

[Ollie 1,059]

Here are the times for the three bonus tracks:

Voldemort 4:18

The Dumbledores 2:09

Bellatrix 2:11

And to show how much I've been paying attention to every detail, I didn't realize the deluxe set wouldn't be available until Dec 21st. :cool:

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I bought the 3 tracks from iTunes, haven't listened yet. Going through the whole album first.

[David Coscina 3]

I bought the 3 tracks from iTunes, haven't listened yet. Going through the whole album first.

What store did you buy them from???

[Charlie Brigden 7]

I bought the 3 tracks from iTunes, haven't listened yet. Going through the whole album first.

What store did you buy them from???

I'd guess iTunes.

[Wojo 2,453]

iTunes' website shows them as $1.29 apiece and does indicate that they're Album Only tracks.

I'll buy them from iTunes and pick up the CD from wherever, since the bonus tracks are not listed at Amazon.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Best buy has the physical album for $10 in store

[Wojo 2,453]

The closest Best Buy is 42 miles away. At 20 mpg and about $2.98 per gallon, it will cost me about $12 to drive there and return in order to save the $3-$5 extra I would pay at FYE or Walmart.

[Charlie Brigden 7]

At maximum warp it will take us three hours twenty-five minutes to reach our destination.

[scallenger 483]

nevermind, just noticed someone posted a direct link to the itunes site. delete post.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

You guys live on an arctic base?