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Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone |
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2001 |
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Soundtrack |
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B00005OWIU |
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N/A |
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| 165 listener votes for this album. |
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| The magic begins |
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| By: | tudor_19071990 |
| Date: | 1 Nov 2011 |
| Rating: |
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2001 was an extraordinary year for the fantasy genre. On one hand you had "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", the adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's first volume of the world favorite "The Lord of the Rings" series. On the other hand, you had "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" (or "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" as it's known internationally), the adaptation of J.K. Rowling's first volume of the popular "Harry Potter" books. Thus, 2001 was virtually a dream come true for fantasy fans. Both films received Academy Award nominations for Best Score, with the former winning. But if "The Fellowship of the Ring" hadn't been released that year, this one could have been a likely winner.
The first film, directed by Chris Columbus, managed to beautifully portray the young Harry Potter as he goes for his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As expected, the film was a box-office hit, almost reaching the 1 billion $ mark (just by 30 million short). Part of the success that the film enjoyed was possible thanks to its wonderful score. It is said that James Horner was contacted to score this first installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise but he refused because he wanted to score Ron Howard's bio-drama "A Beautiful Mind". In the end, the task was handed over to veteran film score composer John Williams. Whether you listen the music on the soundtrack release or you are watching the movie, you can clearly see that Williams was the natural choice, marking his first great score of the new millennium.
Williams and Columbus were not strangers to each other because the two worked together before on "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York". "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was John Williams' first score for a fantasy movie since 1991's "Hook" so film music fans expected this one with much enthusiasm. And honestly, they were not disappointed.
Williams brought to the table 2 hours of large-scale orchestral music (even though only 73 minutes of it are available on the commercial soundtrack) that is very reminiscent of "Hook" and "Home Alone". For "Harry Potter", Williams composed three principal themes, all three of them being used in the following sequels, even those in which Williams was not responsible for the score. The main theme, also called "Hedwig's Theme", is the one that opens the soundtrack with "Prologue". The theme is beautifully played on celesta and then is taken by the horns accompanied by sweeping strings. This was the first time since "Hook" that John Williams actually composed music for the theatrical trailer of a film. The second theme was written for the Hogwarts school and we first hear it majestically performed on strings at the very beginning of "Harry's Wondrous World", a concert suite that brings together all three themes. Finally, the third theme is a calmer one and represents the growing friendship between Harry, Ron and Hermione. We also hear it first in "Harry's Wondrous World" starting at 2:04.
In addition, Williams wrote a few secondary themes, including one for the Quidditch game, that we first hear it once again in "Harry's Wondrous World" starting at 3:18, and one for Voldemort, which is scarcely heard and rightfully so because he is still a stranger to Harry.
Other than that, the album is packed with plenty: playful music, action music, suspense music, even Christmas music. So, in a way, it's got everything. The one thing that I particularly liked is that, unlike other blockbuster films, they chose not to have a commercial pop song over the end credits so it's only orchestral music. Thumbs up for this decision. Now, for John Williams fans, the 73 minutes of music contained might not be enough for them but, luckily for them, there are some 2 CD bootlegs containing the complete score.
Overall, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was an excellent return for John Williams to the fantasy genre and truly marked his first great score of the new millennium. He also set the music standards that the other "Harry Potter" films will follow, whether they were scored by Williams or not. Remember, this is no "Hook" so don't expect to hear a large palette of themes. However, the themes written for "Harry Potter" are really wonderful and beautifully orchestrated. Williams demonstrates us that wonderful and beautiful themes can come out of his fingers. Congratulations, Maestro!
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