What do you think of the Harry Potter soundtrack?

[ItPott 0]

Is the Harry Potter BSO the best BSO in recent history? Leaving aside personal tastes for one saga or another and from a totally objective point of view, in what position would you put the Harry Potter BSO?

I am interested in knowing because I have a website specialized in Harry Potter questionnaires (You can see it here) and I wanted to know opinions about where you would put this BSO compared to other BSOs of different sagas.

All the best

[Thor 9,323]

BSO....I'm guessing that's Spanish for Banda Sonora Originale (i.e. OST) rather than Boston Symphony Orchestra.

 

Harry Potter is fine. I'm not as connected to the films and scores as many others here, and I have zero nostalgic relationship them as I was well into my 20s when they came out, but the third score is a masterpiece. And the films are entertaining enough even for an adult.

 

[GerateWohl 6,199]

Even though the LalaLand Boxset for John Williams' Harry Potter scores is wonderful, I think, hardly anything beats the puplications of the Lord of the Rings scores. Lovely OSTs, also as deluxe edition in a nice digipack, including documentary DVD, a complete recording edition with the whole program in audio DVD as well, and I am not getting started about the artwork and documentation.

Even though there is a lot out there for Star Wars still I would say, LotR has so far the best soundtrack puplications overall for a saga.

Harry Potter is probably second, If you take into account, that I am basically only interested in the Williams scores.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,729]

BSO?

[Holko 11,675]

One of JW's most iconic batch of scores. 1 and 3 are great in the LLL complete form, 2 is very very good. OSTs are a mess.

[King Mark 3,862]

LLL box set is the greatest expanded set ever

[Chewy 2,770]

18 minutes ago, King Mark said:

LLL box set is the greatest expanded set ever

Well said!

[bollemanneke 4,138]

It's hard for me to determien how important nostalgia is when it comes to Potter.

 

I hated most of JW's scores in my teens and before that (was born in 1993). Barely noticed the music when we owned 1 and 2 on VHS, did think 3 was composed by somebody else.

 

I LOVED GOF when it came out, the score changed my life.

 

Then I broadened my horizons, first fell in love With Zimmer and then fell in love with JW's music.

 

I used to love HP3, but largely due to LLL's wonderful and unbeatable set, I now regard HP1 as a masterpiece, one of a kind. We'll see what happens when LLL does 4. And as Holko already said, the OSTs are a mess. 1 wastes time on the children’s suite, 2 misses set pieces and 3 completely misrepresents the score because it’s all about the dark stuff.

 

5-8... I never liked Yates, though his DH movies have grown on me. Hooper's music was fine for me, now it's bland. Desplat has always been pretty good.

 

As for LoTR... I used to think they were incredible works of art, then I discovered all the underscore is basically random chords.

[Jurassic Shark 15,566]

I prefer the original opera.

 

 

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/der-stein-der-weisen-oder-die-zauberinsel/hnum/11817462

 

On 03/01/2022 at 3:58 PM, GerateWohl said:

nice digipack

 

What?

[Chen G. 5,448]

20 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

I prefer the original opera.

 

 

You know, Wagner speculated that the Holy Grail in Parsifal and Lohengrin, which in some of the earlier romances is a rock, grew out of stories about the Philosopher's Stone (and, in turn, from stories about the Hajar al-Aswad), so... 

 

In truth, of all the Williams' scores, the one that most reminds me of Lohengrin in terms of form (as well as the reliance on third-related chords to denote magic) and structure is Harry Potter. I don't think its intentional, but it turned out that way.

[GerateWohl 6,199]

27 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

What?

I understand your preference for jewel cases. But in case digipacks are stable and you don't have to destroy them to get the discs out (unlike The Hobbit Expanded Editions) The I sometimes like digipacks. 

[Jurassic Shark 15,566]

7 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

I understand your preference for jewel cases. But in case digipacks are stable and you don't have to destroy them to get the discs out (unlike The Hobbit Expanded Editions) The I sometimes like digipacks. 

 

Your secret is safe with me.

[bollemanneke 4,138]

On 03/01/2022 at 9:21 PM, King Mark said:

LLL box set is the greatest expanded set ever

THIS.

[Jurassic Shark 15,566]

I like the OSTs.

[mrbellamy 7,623]

The only gripe I ever really had with the HP1 OST as a kid was that "Through the Doors" wasn't on there despite tracks titled "Diagon Alley" and "Entry Into the Great Hall." The beginning of my confusion as a film score enthusiast. 

 

But I still think that album is close to all killer no filler, considering it's over an hour. I never got the complaints here about it, I think it's pretty much a stone-cold classic OST....I don't feel as strongly about 2 and 3 as albums even though I have just as much sentimental attachment to them and great memories listening back in the day. Really happy to have the LLL set, of course. 

[bollemanneke 4,138]

I think the only perfect OSTs are 4 and 6. 4 misses a lot of great stuff, but at least tries to cover all the bases. Not having the troll fight or the forbidden forest sequence is weird.

[bored 582]

DISCLAIMER: This ended up turning into a review as some of my posts tend to.

 

The first two are classic film scores. Love the way Williams ties all the themes subtly together, and all of them fit the characters and setting perfectly. I know some think the second film began dropping themes such as the Voldemort themes, but considering how his presence is meant to remain a mystery I thought it made sense. Plus the temp tracks effectively serve as reprises anyway. Even without the temp tracks in the second film there's a subtle reference to the "Voldemort 1" theme when Tom Riddle summons the basilisk. 

 

The third score is complicated for me. Certainly a great score in its own right, and a good musical direction for the series to go in, but the lack of continuity with the previous two, and even within its own established themes ("Double Trouble" being jettisoned entirely by the second half) often leaves me feeling underwhelmed with mixed emotions. 

 

I feel similarly to the fourth film. Patrick Doyle did a great job creating a dark tone, somewhat continuing in line with Williams' style, and creating beautiful new music in its own right, but the Hogwarts Hymn being barely used when it seems it could have had more of a role in the score, "Harry in Winter" being used for Cedric and just emotional moments in general is kind of weird, and of course the lack of previous themes still leaves it feeling like just a good fantasy score and not a great Harry Potter score.

 

Nicholas Hooper's scores I personally feel are not even worth mentioning. Some fun moments, sure, some kind of Harry Potter-ish music, but much of them are so generic they could fit into The Great British Bake Off, or in a random Zimmer project. 

 

Alexandre Desplat is my personal favorite of the non-Williams scores, as there's a noticeable attempt to return to Williams' style in seven (part one), with new variations on Hedwig's theme that almost sound like something Williams would have come up with, a subtle reference to the 3-note motif in "Sky Battle" after Hedwig's death, and even possible hints towards Williams' Dobby theme at times, while still being a darker, more mature score with new textures and decent new themes. 

 

Part two is weird though. There is still references to Desplat's part one score, but it's often only one or two references of a theme each. When they meet Aberforth we get a hint of "The Dumbledores" when we see the Hufflepuff cup we get the Horcrux leitmotif (as well as a subtle version when Harry stabs the Diadem). When Harry leaves to die we get a (cut) version of the trio theme, the Order of the Phoenix theme is used for both Neville and the Order of the Phoenix for some reason, and the Deathly Hallows theme is used once verbatum, a variation in "Into The Tunnel", and that might be it. This along with the whole score being noticeable simplified in terms of orchestral writing, drags its quality significantly.

 

However, I love Lily's theme and much of the emotional moments, even re-used Hooper ones ("Dumbledore's Farewell" will never not work for me in Snape's memories). I still find the action music generally fun despite its obvious simplification, and I love the new versions of Hedwig's theme and the re-incorporation of the first two movie's tracks and themes. I wish there was more of it, but "The Boys Receive Detention" when Harry returns to Hogwarts, and of course "Leaving Hogwarts" at the finale were absolutely perfect, and finally established a slightly better sense of continuity. 

 

In terms of the OSTs, I always go for the complete editions and leaks for films 1-4 and the Deathly Hallows. Again, I don't really bother with Hooper's music, but the OSTs are definitely the way to go for them, as they capture whatever enjoyable melodic material is there, while cutting most of the fat. Though I can definitely see why someone would want to avoid the complete scores for both Deathly Hallows, as there is a lot of slow moments in them as well.

[Cameron007 101]

On 06/07/2024 at 10:24 AM, bollemanneke said:

I think the only perfect OSTs are 4 and 6. 4 misses a lot of great stuff, but at least tries to cover all the bases. Not having the troll fight or the forbidden forest sequence is weird.

 

HBP's OST is not perfect, for it misses one crucial piece: Dumbledore's actual death music. That omission greatly hurt the program. Thank God we got the sessions to rectify that.

 

Also, "Dumbledore's Speech" and "Dumbledore's Foreboding" are basically the same. Get rid of one and put 8m48B in and you have a solid program.

[Sandor 875]

For the record: the score for the first film is a genuine classic. The music -not just Hedwig's Theme- is as famous as the music from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc. It is the #1 John Williams score for an entire generation and the music is generally held in very high regard. Concerts dedicated to the music from either the first film or the series are highly successful and the music lives on.

 

CoS and PoA are wonderful scores as well, especially PoA, but nothing can or will ever come close to the cultural weight of the original score.

[Richard P 4,950]

The first is special for 2 reasons in my book - as already stated multiple times, it's a Williams classic - what SW is to most here. It's got everything you could possibly want in a score, and you definitely get the feeling Williams was enjoying the process and enjoying the film.

 

CoS and PoA are above-average works for me, but don't come close to the same heights. The second score is a half a score, with much of what is original feeling a bit rushed in places. Where you had the full attention and passion of a composer for the first score, it feels like it's not there completely in the second - Williams' mind was on CMIYC. The ideas he brought to the table were first class - Dobby/Fawkes/Chamber themes - but the result is a mix of hasty original material and adaptations from Ross.

 

PoA establishes a new sound, built on the foundations of the beautiful Window to the Past, but by ditching nearly all of his thematic catalog, Williams gives us a score that has a more folky, old-English sound, but doesn't really feel like it's part of a franchise. My own personal view is that for some reason, the action material goes in a very clunky direction, with sequences like the werewolf fight and the dementor material feeling lacking in structure.

 

Once you free CoS and PoA from Williams' albums and craft new listening experiences, there are 4-star albums in there.

[Edmilson 11,001]

The thing about CoS is that it has all the foundations of an amazing score, a new Williams classic on par with HPPS - if he was allowed to dedicate his full attention to the movie, without that "police will take Williams's pen" and Ross's adapting cues from the first score nonsense.

 

The Chamber theme is amazing, it's probably among my top 10 JW themes ever. I like the material for the Spiders, Fawkes, Dobby. JW is clearly quite fond of that since he performs Fawkes in some concerts. 

 

If Williams had been able to focus entirely on CoS, it would've been a new classic.

 

Heck Steven, why didn't you release CMIYC in 2003? It annoys me to no end that in 2002 JW had to work double shifts to do four movies in a row, one of which he had to deliver to his assistant to adapt material from the previous score, while in 2003 he didn't do pretty much anything.

[The Score Cleaner 8,484]

10 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

 without that "police will take Williams's pen" ... nonsense.

 

 

Are you saying that it would have been better if Williams was less involved?

[Chen G. 5,448]

1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

PoA establishes a new sound, built on the foundations of the beautiful Window to the Past, but by ditching nearly all of his thematic catalog, Williams gives us a score that has a more folky, old-English sound, but doesn't really feel like it's part of a franchise. My own personal view is that for some reason, the action material goes in a very clunky direction, with sequences like the werewolf fight and the dementor material feeling lacking in structure.

 

Its a curious choice, isn't it? To, two entries into a piece, basically abandon not just most of the themes, but also the basic soundscape and the way the score functions. Its a most lovely, delicate, inteligent piece, but the loss of a feeling of a throughline is lamentable.

 

Williams had pulled this trick - very daring on the face of it - with The Lost World.

[Edmilson 11,001]

13 minutes ago, The Great Gonzales said:

Are you saying that it would have been better if Williams was less involved?

You didn't read what I posted, right? 

 

25 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

The thing about CoS is that it has all the foundations of an amazing score, a new Williams classic on par with HPPS - if he was allowed to dedicate his full attention to the movie,

 

[mrbellamy 7,623]

Never had a problem with the lack of continuity in POA and mostly feel it's justified, and the only thing I find lamentable about it is that we never found out how he would or wouldn't have reconciled the first three scores together within the larger series. Maybe POA still would have stuck out as a weird anomaly but I like to think it wouldn't have. Obviously there'd still be all kinds of reasons to argue about the music if he did all 8, regardless, like Star Wars. 

[Chen G. 5,448]

The lack of continuity is, in some respects, less glaring then one might think: The main theme peeks in a familiar guise a good couple of times, and a few more times as "Double Trouble."

[mrbellamy 7,623]

And he gives "Nimbus 2000" the last word before credits, reminding you of the status quo.

[Chen G. 5,448]

Yeah. But those examples notwithstanding, there's no denying it: its a completely different soundscape, its structurally very different. Just a well nigh-complete break from the world of the previous two films, with just the occasional "reminder."

[The Score Cleaner 8,484]

And thank god for that.

[bollemanneke 4,138]

HP3 leaves me wanting more now, although I’m not sure what it is. The problem for me is that Azkaban has some amazing little cues, like the source music, but once you’re past the first half, it’s mostly… I don’t even know how to finish the sentence now. HP1 is such a well-rounded, grand long symphony, 2 has ‘in a hurry’ written over most of it. I love, love the sound world of 3 (map to snow scene…), but it’s missing that final, magical ingredient.

[bored 582]

I never got the "in a hurry" vibe from CoS at all outside of the temp tracks and the repeat of one or two specific cues. Most of the score is taking old material and creating new variants of it a-la Star Wars.

 

There's so many tracks that are practically all new material, or old material made new such as "The Flying Car", any Lockhart focused track, "Hermione and Hagrid", most of the 3-note motif/Chamber focused tracks are new material/variations, "Moaning Myrtle", new variants on the Nimbus 2000 track for the Dursley's/comedic scenes, new versions of the cloak motif, almost every spider-focused track is all new music, the entire finale outside of the temp tracks is all unique, Dobby's music is given air time whenever he appears, and even Lucius' "Dooku" music is given variations in "Lucius Returns, Dobby is Free". Plus even tracks that repeat a lot from the previous film usually have new versions of themes, and the old material is still often given a re-write. It's taking the previous film, and making it darker and adding some new material, like all good sequel score should do.

 

Three definitely doesn't feel rushed at all, yes, but again just doesn't have the heart of the previous two. All the new material is good, but better than the original themes? Eh, not really outside of "Double Trouble" somewhat replacing "Hogwarts Forever". As a sequel score, it actually kind of fails at building upon the previous films.

[The Score Cleaner 8,484]

I mean, Quidditch quotes the Cloud City escape from Empire Strikes Back tho.

 

3 also doesn't have the bloat. (TBF COS also has less) Potter 1-2 is Williams's Star Trek Insurrection

[Edmilson 11,001]

27 minutes ago, The Great Gonzales said:

I mean, Quidditch quotes the Cloud City escape from Empire Strikes Back tho.

 

Really? If it's the bit I'm thinking about then it's the Ludlow thing  from The Lost World, right?

[The Score Cleaner 8,484]

12 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Really? If it's the bit I'm thinking about then it's the Ludlow thing  from The Lost World, right?

4:37 of Quidditch, Second Year on the LLL

 

3:49 of Clash of Lightsabers

 

 

[mrbellamy 7,623]

On 08/07/2024 at 4:04 PM, bored said:

I never got the "in a hurry" vibe from CoS at all outside of the temp tracks and the repeat of one or two specific cues. Most of the score is taking old material and creating new variants of it a-la Star Wars.

 

There's so many tracks that are practically all new material, or old material made new such as "The Flying Car", any Lockhart focused track, "Hermione and Hagrid", most of the 3-note motif/Chamber focused tracks are new material/variations, "Moaning Myrtle", new variants on the Nimbus 2000 track for the Dursley's/comedic scenes, new versions of the cloak motif, almost every spider-focused track is all new music, the entire finale outside of the temp tracks is all unique, Dobby's music is given air time whenever he appears, and even Lucius' "Dooku" music is given variations in "Lucius Returns, Dobby is Free". Plus even tracks that repeat a lot from the previous film usually have new versions of themes, and the old material is still often given a re-write. It's taking the previous film, and making it darker and adding some new material, like all good sequel score should do.

 

Three definitely doesn't feel rushed at all, yes, but again just doesn't have the heart of the previous two. All the new material is good, but better than the original themes? Eh, not really outside of "Double Trouble" somewhat replacing "Hogwarts Forever". As a sequel score, it actually kind of fails at building upon the previous films.

 

The new stuff in COS is great and there are some creative HP1 rearrangements, but I think you're still not quite acknowledging how often lengthy cues or random snippets from the first score just pop up sounding exactly the same, and kind of generically applied. It's not like Star Wars and it's more than just a couple cues. Flying Keys, In the Vinesnakes, The Chess Game/Checkmate, Norwegian Ridgeback are pretty obvious, but then you get into the even deeper cuts like Escaping Frog, Running to McGonagall, Introduction to Quidditch, Hermione's Feather, You're a Wizard Harry...a few of these would be okay or at least excusable, but they do add up and get annoying. But I'd concede they basically work in a superficial, member berries sort of way. 

 

Some are fine and make perfect sense, like bringing back Platform 9 3/4. The reuse of The Quidditch Match and The Blue Forest are okay to start with but my problem is that they just keep going. Like it's totally fair, even ideal, to have the forest motif back in there as we remember it, but then continuing the cue right into Aragog's appearance is where I completely feel the score taking it easy. Honestly the music sometimes makes the movie feel more derivative than it really is...

 

The comical versions of Nimbus 2000 are cute but even then, I get sick of them by the end of Polyjuice. Same as the Three Note Loop. I wonder how I would have felt if they just continued to be used through the series as generic "comedy" and "mystery" motifs. At least Three Note Loop was establishing itself as something that could be more directly tied to Voldemort. 

 

But again, it's a really good score overall, it all fits okay and works mainly in the way that the film is often trying to refresh the audience's memory of the first one. I love the new stuff, although I disagree that Dobby's theme makes any impact in the underscore whatsoever. The concert piece functions more as a bonus theme for soundtrack listeners than any reminder of his material in the film. 

 

Honestly not sure what you mean by "Double Trouble" functioning as a replacement for "Hogwarts Forever," but I do find it interesting to consider where exactly POA's score would have been improved, specifically, by calling back to the first two scores. I've always been kind of at a loss considering what the actual options would be. Do you think POA's score would have been better served replacing "A Window to the Past" with the family theme?

[bored 582]

I know 2 still has a lot of repeat, but again since 90% of it makes sense thematically, and doesn't feel out of place (at least to me) at all, and even functions better in some scenes in 2 than they did in 1, I usually don't mind them. The "Double Trouble" acting as a Hogwarts theme idea actually came from this forum. Some users have pointed out it's often used to establish Hogwarts as a setting, not just mischief. In fact I saw some comment this on the Potter Scoring Project asking them if they'd use it to represent Hogwarts as well.

 

In terms of what I think they should have done for POA, I honestly would have been happy with even just one callback to previous themes each, just to re-establish them, and some more heart into the movie. I'm fine with "Window" being used for Lupin and Sirius, as they are literally windows to Harry's past in his interactions with them, or even when it's used to portray Harry's loneliness since it has that melancholy tone. 

 

But the family theme probably still should have been used, for example, when Harry literally stares at his parents' portrait or scenes more like that. "Window" just doesn't really work there IMO besides establishing it for the movie, and starting with celeste to allow the orchestration of it to grow throughout the film. Those details are good, but again to me, it lacks the heart. 

 

As for when something like the friendship theme should have been used, thankfully other channels have already shown what I would have liked:

 

 

 

[Chen G. 5,448]

12 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

The problem for me is that Azkaban has some amazing little cues, like the source music, but once you’re past the first half, it’s mostly… I don’t even know how to finish the sentence now

 

It is curious that, inasmuch as Azkaban represents a break in style for Williams, it seems he had a rethinking halfway through. A lot of the motivic ideas that were quite present in the first half of the score - namely, most of the references to the earlier scores, including "Double Trouble" - drop out in the second half.

[LiterallyIconic 1,528]

.

[bored 582]

I've never bought this idea that Williams is an improvisor or that the complete change/lack of continuity in Azkaban was his choice. Star Wars and Indiana Jones are prime examples that show he cares about continuity while trying new things. 

[Chen G. 5,448]

12 minutes ago, bored said:

Star Wars and Indiana Jones are prime examples that show he cares about continuity while trying new things. 

 

And yet, he does pride himself - not unjustly - on basing every Star Wars score (except Revenge of the Sith) primarily on new material, and certainly that is also the case with Indy, although for different reasons. Another score where he basically pulled an Azkaban (although, again, for different reasons) is The Lost World.

 

So its definitely not wholly uncharacteristic of him, even though the extent to which it was done in Azkaban owes much to the request of Cuaron to break away from the example of the previous films.

[LiterallyIconic 1,528]

On 09/07/2024 at 3:54 AM, bored said:

I've never bought this idea that Williams is an improvisor

I implore you, as I do with everyone around here, to become more familiar with jazz. It's all over his music. It's not just that he "works" an improvisation and then writes it down, Beethoven did that, it's the rhythmic and melodic vernacular he uses to develop material (and vamp) that is as close to jazz, and specifically hard-bop and its descendants, as it is to Brahms.

[Chen G. 5,448]

That's very true. Although to be fair his Potter scores are less about development as such and more about variations.

[LiterallyIconic 1,528]

.

[bored 582]

Well we don't really know if they were going to be about development because of the conflicting directors, visions, Williams being forced out, etc. Also for Williams, development is basically in variations most of the time. Arguably the biggest use of Luke's theme (within the film) is when he's shooting at the Stormtroopers, not even the ending of the film/his arc. Even in ROTJ he never plays the theme in full during the film itself, only the credits and opening.

[Chen G. 5,448]

36 minutes ago, bored said:

Also for Williams, development is basically in variations most of the time.

 

That's true, at least of the classic trilogy: That theme really doesn't undergo very discernable changes, unless you count the shift to the minor mode in some spots. The main exponent of motivic transformation is actually to be found with Yoda, where the theme associated with the character essentially disintegrates into an ostinato that goes on to underpin the "sister" reveal.

 

But Harry Potter is still very different. Its just not a leitmotivic score, in the sense that few of the themes have any kind of specific associations: there's no Ron motive, there's no Dumbeldore motif or anything like that. Its hardly surprising that Harry, being the main character, gets a theme but even he gets two. So its all more of a musical exercise than a "I see this, I hear that."

 

The main modus operandi of the score is to take the main theme and put it in a lot of different dresses: Nocturne-like for the opening scene, bouncy and humorous (what's often called the "Nimbus 2000" theme for no good reason), dynamic and flightly (during the Broom scene). They're all the same music as the main theme, just "dressed up" differently. Same with quite a few themes - that do have more specific associations - in Chamber of Secrets: "Lockhart's theme" is just a pompous version of the main theme, while "Moaning Myrtle" is a sad version. So is "Double Trouble" in Azkaban. Its all the same music! That certainly is not the case with the Star Wars scores.

 

Also, at least in Philosopher's Stone, Williams' is very assidious about presenting the different themes and variations one-by-one over a long period of time: First the main theme and a couple of its first variations for a solid ten minutes, then the first Harry theme, then the first Voldemort theme, then the second...each of these entrances is a good couple of minutes apart so you really have time to remember each new theme or variation. Again, a completely different approach to the Star Wars model.

[Edmilson 11,001]

21 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

The new stuff in COS is great and there are some creative HP1 rearrangements, but I think you're still not quite acknowledging how often lengthy cues or random snippets from the first score just pop up sounding exactly the same, and kind of generically applied. It's not like Star Wars and it's more than just a couple cues. Flying Keys, In the Vinesnakes, The Chess Game/Checkmate, Norwegian Ridgeback are pretty obvious, but then you get into the even deeper cuts like Escaping Frog, Running to McGonagall, Introduction to Quidditch, Hermione's Feather, You're a Wizard Harry...a few of these would be okay or at least excusable, but they do add up and get annoying. But I'd concede they basically work in a superficial, member berries sort of way. 

 

Some are fine and make perfect sense, like bringing back Platform 9 3/4. The reuse of The Quidditch Match and The Blue Forest are okay to start with but my problem is that they just keep going. Like it's totally fair, even ideal, to have the forest motif back in there as we remember it, but then continuing the cue right into Aragog's appearance is where I completely feel the score taking it easy. Honestly the music sometimes makes the movie feel more derivative than it really is...

 

The comical versions of Nimbus 2000 are cute but even then, I get sick of them by the end of Polyjuice. Same as the Three Note Loop. I wonder how I would have felt if they just continued to be used through the series as generic "comedy" and "mystery" motifs. At least Three Note Loop was establishing itself as something that could be more directly tied to Voldemor

We have this guy to thanks for all the HP1 reprises:

 

 

As I said before, if Catch Me If You Can had been released in 2003, Williams would have a lot more time to dedicate to Chamber of Secrets and create a more unique score instead of just re-using HP1 material.

 

OTOH maybe Warner could've released HP2 in summer 2003... But then they wouldn't have anything for the 2002 holiday season.

[The Score Cleaner 8,484]

4 hours ago, Chen G. said:

 (what's often called the "Nimbus 2000" theme for no good reason), dynamic and flightly (during the Broom scene).

 

 

The reason is because it's the theme from.... Nimbus 2000...

[LiterallyIconic 1,528]

.

[bored 582]

6 hours ago, Chen G. said:

there's no Ron motive

 

 

It's also used to represent every Weasley briefly later on:

 

 

And is used again in a cut segment when he partially transforms Scabbers:

 

 

Most of the themes that are at least partially leitmotivic are used very accurately in the first two scores. Voldemort's themes (not the 3-note motif) are always played for him and no one else. Harry's family, Wondrous World themes are always associated with their namesakes (though of course Wondrous World is more up for debate).

 

The Chamber theme is very clearly representing any Chamber-related activity (petrification/basilisk activity), Dobby's theme is very clearly for Dobby only, Fawkes' theme is clearly for Fawkes, Moaning Myrtle, Christmas, Quidditch, etc. Sometimes they change, some times they cut off, sometimes Hedwig's theme is played simultaneously with Voldemort's main theme as one user pointed out about "The Face of Voldemort"/"The Mirror Scene". As John Williams goes, I'd say the first two movies are very leitmotif heavy. Even Hedwig's theme I think there's a good argument to be made for it being a theme for magic.

[Chen G. 5,448]

6 hours ago, bored said:

It's also used to represent every Weasley briefly later on:

 

I knew this would come up. But this is also just the main theme in another guise. I think its more useful to think about it that way than to think of it rigorously as a Ron or a Weasley theme as such.

 

6 hours ago, bored said:

Voldemort's themes (not the 3-note motif) are always played for him and no one else. Harry's family, Wondrous World themes are always associated with their namesakes

 

Well, its small wonder that the main character and the main antagonists would have a theme, but the fact that they have two motives each kind of makes my point for me: I've seen all sorts of naming conventions around the two Voldemort motifs: "Ah, this one is more Voldemort as an individual, this one is more the dark powers of Voldemort" or "This is Voldemort's menace and this is Voldemort's malevolence." You see how arbitrary it all is: They're just Voldemort 1 and Voldemort 2. The Harry themes are a little bit more differentiated, but basically one is more nostalgic and backwards looking, the other more optimistic and forwards looking. There's not that one-to-one equivalency that is more standard in leitmotivic scores.

 

6 hours ago, bored said:

The Chamber theme is very clearly representing any Chamber-related activity (petrification/basilisk activity), Dobby's theme is very clearly for Dobby only, Fawkes' theme is clearly for Fawkes, Moaning Myrtle, Christmas, Quidditch, etc.

 

You do notice a theme () there, surely? Almost all of these themes are from Chamber of Secrets, which in that sense is a more traditional score. Although, again, the "Myrtle" theme is just yet another setting of the main theme.

 

Quidditich is one of the more "indexical" themes in the first score, but beside that? Its mostly constructed out of the main theme coming back in lots of different guises, all without a very strong, specific association. Its more Tristan than the Ring.