Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Nicholas HooperEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Soundtrack
CD Release Date: 2009-07-14
Music Label: New Line Records
Free Music Notes for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Free Music Review: Strangely Moving and Beautiful Score
Hit: 5 Stars
Well, Nicholas Hooper has done it again. When he came on after picking up the reins from John Williams and Patrick Doyle, I was initially apprehensive of the direction the Potter scores would take, but after hearing his score for "Order of the Phoenix", I began to see the merits this composer has. "Half-Blood Prince" is no different, and cements him in place as one of my most beloved composers. While his magic is of a different flavor than Williams or Doyle, it's still magic, and thankfully for us fans, still Harry Potter.
To me, music is always king in a film. It is the first thing I notice when I watch a movie for the first time, and I expect it to lead me through the film just as much as the visuals themselves. It usually ends up taking more of a front seat than the action on screen, and if it isn't right, the whole movie just feels ruined. But not with this score.
Hooper's music in few words is atmospheric, simple, and highly emotional. The songs are less complex but are beautiful just the same. They reflect a more realistic and less fantastic Wizarding World than the previous installments have, but don't dive into the arena of being too "modern" sounding. It is still very much a classical work, and because of the highly emotional nature of the film itself, his overall style suits the subject to a T.
Hooper opts to evoke more emotion through his pieces rather than simply inserting musical themes to fill up space. There are less moments of explosive action than there are explosive emotion. There is also an element of darkness and foreboding that pervades each track, moreso than any for the previous films, which coincides with each movie getting sucessively darker as time progresses. That said, I find that it is not opressive. Hooper manages to balance things out with lighter pieces while making the darker ones less disturbing than some of his own in OOTP. He builds tension and creates action with glorious string sections, and lets even the most heart-pounding pieces close gently, giving you time to take a breath and prepare yourself for the next one.
There might be subtlety of score and sparseness of notes, but there is certainly no skimping or shrouding of emotion. You'll probably moved to tears more than a few times, but overall really enjoy this great work of art that goes along with the latest installment from the Potter franchise. From the beginning tremors of "Opening" to the closing chords of "Weasley Stomp", the whole score is a tremendous journey of beauty and tendernessness, sadness and heartbreak, tension and anticipation, emptiness and loss, and, despite all this, an optimistic outlook for the future. It reminded me quite a lot of John William's score for "Prisoner of Azkaban". Oddly enough, Hooper's score feels more Williams-reminiscent than Williams's own work. To this day, I still can't tell that Williams had much of a hand in the music for the third film.
While I love the previous composer's works for the other four films, I find that this CD is much easier to listen to for simply the reason that it is much simpler and less bombastic. There aren't quite so many blaring horns or whimsical marimbas to jarr you out of the moment. Rather, through the expressive use of flutes, violins, harps, and choirs, you only move deeper into the story, and are soon totally immersed in the world itself. Hooper's pieces really fit together as a real score, and are made better when listened to together. There isn't a definitive end to each track; they just sort of flow into each other. I suppose it keeps it moving and helps the continuity (I say continuity because for some reason, his marvelous score for "Order of the Phoenix" was arranged totally out of order in the CD. What was that about?).
As a listener of many film scores, this one by far posesses the most varied soundscape I have ever heard. It ranges in tone and emotion from latin chants, big band ditties, jazz waltzes, rousing Scotch step-dancing themes on fiddles, heart-tugging funeral dirges, romantic ballads, and exciting and stirring action themes.
I really like the re-introduction of "Hedwig's Theme" into the track "Ginny"; ever since the third film, it's felt like something has been missing from the movies. Thank you Mr. Hooper! His jazzy riff in "Wizard Wheezes" is a welcome tension-reducer, and the ebullient bounce of "Living Death" (The title is a minomer) is reminiscent of his work on "Order of the Phoenix".
"Ron's Victory" heralds a well-anticipated return of Quidditch and excites as much as it envigorates.
"Harry and Hermione" has to be one of my favorite tracks in this disc. Sweet and melancholy at the same time, it reminds me of one of my favorite moments from the film, a quiet but sad moment between the two characters. I always feel a little teary-eyed when I hear it.
The violin solo on "Farewell Aragog" is almost Celtic in theme, and is also another of my favorites.
The gentle strum of guitars and romantic sweep of strings on "When Ginny Kissed Harry" is also very nice, and makes for perhaps one of the most memorable tunes Hooper has created for this film. It reminded me somewhat of a serenade from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
"Slughorn's Confession" has more of the signature sweetness, provided by a solo flute, punctuated by the dark undercurrent of strings. This is a really moving piece, and a real watershed when seen in its place in the movie.
As far as action tracks go, "The Journey to the Cave" is one of the best I've heard in any of the Harry Potter films. It is exciting without being overbearing, and you can really feel the roll and rush of the waves beating against the shore without having to see it for yourself.
"The Killing of Dumbledore" and "Dumbledore's Farewell" always get me. Though not as poignant as Doyle's "Death of Cedric" in "Goblet of Fire", they still manage to pull at my heartstrings and come across as the most moving pieces of the whole score.
I didn't like "The Friends" as much as "Loved Ones and Leaving", but the closing number "Weasley Stomp" was optimistic enough to leave you feeling lighthearted instead of downtrodden.
All in all, this score serves its purpose. It's a well-crafted and well-thought endeavor, and works just as well by itself as it does coupled with the film it was written for.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Poster
The sixth installment in the film franchise. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same. The score features music by Nicholas Hooper, who took the reigns as composer during the last film, "Order Of The Phoenix".Pop Music CDs
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