Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
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Free Music Notes for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]
Free Music Review: A Fantastic Soundtrack for "Harry Potter" by John Williams
Hit: 5 Stars
Of the three films released to date about J.K. Rowling's fictional young wizard named Harry Potter, the soundtrack for the third film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), is probably the best. Composed again by veteran Hollywood composer John Williams, the music written for this film took upon darker undertones than the previous two films, but also some of most beautiful & emotional music as well.
The film opens at the Dursley's home on Privet Drive with Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) reading with his wand as a light beneath the sheets to the delightful music of "Lumos! (Hedwig's Theme)". This is followed by the next day when Uncle Vernon (Richard Griffiths) tells Harry that he must be on his behavior while Vernon's unpleasant sister Marge (Pam Ferris) visits. Her tune, entitled "Marge's Theme", fits her perfectly. Unfortunately, Aunt Marge upsets Harry who accidentally uses magic to make her inflate like a balloon. While she floats outside with Uncle Vernon trying to keep her close to the ground, Aunt Petunia (Fiona Shaw) is visibly upset while Harry's cousin Dudley (Harry Melling) continues to eat and watch TV. Harry grabs his trunk, Hedwig and the rest of belongings and flees from the house and into the night. When a dark creature looms in the nearby woods, Harry raises his wand and inadvertently attracts the nightbus, which has its own music appropriately titled as "The Nightbus". This, however, proves advantageous for Harry as he climbs on board and is taken to the Leaky Cauldron upon his request. At the Leaky Cauldron, Harry is met by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge (Robert Hardy). Harry believes he will be severely punished for what happened to his Aunt Marge, but the Minister assures Harry that he won't be as there is something more important that he must be protected from: the escape from Azkaban Prison of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who is believed to be in league with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Voldemort). With John Williams' marvelous music, Harry's third year at Hogwarts is going to be very challenging, especially with dementors and Sirius Black on the loose and it begins on the Hogwarts Express when the dementors show up to look for him to the eerie music entitled "Apparition on the Train". Upon arriving at Hogwarts, a choir assembled in the Great Hall sing the eerily beautiful tune called "Double Trouble" to music created by instruments from the Middle Ages, including a harpsichord. (A harpsichord is also used in other arrangements.) This is followed later when Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) take their first magical creatures class with Hagrid to the extraordinarily beautiful tune entitled "Buckbeak's Flight". Other wonderful music from this film include "Monster Books and Boggarts!", "Quidditch, Third Year", "The Patronus Light", "The Dementors Converge", "Finale" and "Mischief Managed!".
Like the first Harry Potter film from 2001, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", John Williams received an Oscar nomination for his phenomenal musical compositions in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban". Overall, I rate the magnificent & enchanting soundtrack for the 2004 film of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it. I also highly recommend the soundtracks for the 2001 "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and the 2002 "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets". I can't wait to hear what composer John Williams has written for the upcoming release of the 2005 film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire".
Free Music Review: Hugely creative. The best of the Potter scores.
Hit: 5 Stars
The greatest thing about this soundtrack is the pure creativity that fuels the entire thing from start to finish. Williams did good work on the first two films, using all the expected instruments in the expected style for a fantasy film, and of course adding his magic touch to make it, well, magical. Here, he goes beyond what he did for the first two films.
The soundtrack starts off with Hedwig's Theme, which serves as the identity for the Harry Potter series. Anyone would have expected this. Then, in the second track, he does something different, and he writes a Tchaikovsky-esque comedy sequence that in the film, accompanies Aunt Marge's scene. This is a fun cue that for the most part is detached from the rest of the score, but it is hilarious and fits its part perfectly.
The next track, The Knight Bus, starts off with a bassoon solo that is a perfect fit for Stan Shunpike. Then suddenly, the track bursts into wild jazz, which is a perfect fit for the Knight Bus (sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record!). This track recalls a past Williams score, Catch Me If You Can.
The next major track, Double Trouble, contains the new major theme for Prisoner of Azakban, and again, it is something different: it takes Shakespeare lyrics and matches it with music that sounds almost Baroque. Thus, we have the first three major tracks that are Romantic, Jazz, and Baroque.
Then, we get into the heart of the soundtrack. Buckbeak's theme is soaring and gusty and wonderful, and rivals the music Williams wrote for E.T.'s flying scene oh so many years ago. Then, we are introduced to the other major theme of Prisoner of Azakban, a Window to the Past, which is played on some sort of flute or piccolo. It plainly speaks of solitude and love, and is one of the highlights of the score.
I could go on and on about every track, but that would make this review stupidly long. So, I'll just talk about one more track: Quidditch, Third Year. I can't even fathom how much inspiration must have been behind this track. The strings, winds, and brass are all in a flurry in this track. Basically, it is a fugue, with a main motif and a ton of highly complex music to go along with it. It's fun listening to it and trying to wrap your mind around everything that's happening. I'd be prepared to bet that Williams worked harder on the Quidditch scene, then the people in the Visual Effects department, and that's saying something.
Another highlight of the score is the little motif for Wormtail and Sirius Black. Simple but creepy, William employs it whenever Wormtail and/or Sirius are near.
Overall, Prisoner of Azakban is a highly effective score, and chock full of creativty, but also substance. If it has a weakness, it is that it doesn't use many of the great motifs that were used in the first two films, although I think this has much to do with the new director--I honestly can't imagine Voldemort's theme from the first film being used in Alfonso Cuaron's Harry Potter film. I wish this score had won the Oscar, but alas, Williams will have to win his sixth another time. Still, I can give this score a great recommendation.
Free Music Review: Best in so many ways
Hit: 5 Stars
I believe this might be John Williams' best score since Schindler's List. It is most certainly the best of the 3 Harry Potter scores so far. For this movie Williams has created a great balance between familiarity to tie into a storyscape with which we are already familiar, and fresh, exciting additions to the Harry Potter musical world. It was a difficult task and he helped bring the magic out of a story most of us knew before we even entered the theater. For us it came to life in ways we never even thought possible. (Those who listen carefully will notice that even "Hedwig's Theme" which is generally the same, sounds different in each of the three soundtracks.)
Williams demonstrates his versitility again in his ability to create amazing themes that he then can bring into any part of the score. One theme in particular is the one featured in "A Window to the Past" which can be heard sometimes at a quiet, nostalgic moment of self reflection and others as a majestic triumph over not only evil, but self-doubt as in "Finale" when Harry conjures his first corporeal patronus (those who have read the book will understand this triumph over self-doubt better).
The only criticisms I have are for the sound editing team (on the movie, not the cd). First of all, they pushed the score so far into the background that, at times, the music had no impact at all. Even during scenes with no dialogue whatsoever (such as "Buckbeak's Flight") you get the feeling that someone has his hand on the volume nob, making sure we don't wake the neighbors. Second of all, some of the cuts were entirely unnecessary. Cutting down the 11 seconds of enthralling percussion at the into of "Buckbeak's Flight" caused the track to sort of stumble into the air which didn't represent what we saw on the screen at all. Listening to this cd is the only way to fully appreciate what Williams has done for this movie. These poor decisions may have been the one thing that cost Azkaban the Oscar for Best Score. (This is not to say that I believe Finding Neverland didn't deserve the award. I enjoyed it very much as well.)
Williams' music has been taken to the next level by an orchestra and recording team that have done as near a flawless job as I can find anywhere. Like the movie, the recording places the listener very much in the role of an outside observer, with a slight feeling of distance from the sound (not to be confused with volume as mentioned above). So often I hear film scores that are so intimately recorded, I feel as if the orchestra is sitting right in my lap and I have no room to breathe. The nuance and atmosphere of this music is simply superb and the recording leaves plenty of room for me, as well as the music, to breathe freely. My favorite track by far is "A Window to the Past" which takes the raw emotion of the recorder's theme at the begining and develops it into a grand orchestral climax; finally it is fully resolved and refined in one of the most superb clarinet solo's I've ever heard.
Free Music Review: Restores my faith in John Williams
Hit: 5 Stars
As much as I love what Mr. Williams has done for the world of orchestral music in the past few decades, I've felt of late that he, like too many in the world of film scoring, have fallen into an unbreakable pattern of turning out a lot of music that is in and of itself good, but not anything more than that extra something that films need to spice things up a bit for the audience. While no one doubts that Williams is a masterful composer, I really feel that in many of his recent scores, so much of his talent was being wasted on a formula (i.e. thick orchestration, sweeping melodies, chirping woodwinds) that becomes sonic wallpaper even when taken out of the film and put into our CD players. Audiences now have become so used to this sound that we almost wouldn't notice if it wasn't there.So, while I usually don't endeavor into movie scores until after actually viewing the film (I think it's kind of unfair to pass judgement when I don't know the context in which it was written), I was so intrigued by claims in early reviews of a completely revamped HP soundtrack that I couldn't stand the wait.
Let me just say that with this score, Williams has completely restored my faith in his ability to catch our attention and really do something daring with his talent. While some fans might be a bit deterred by the nearly complete lack of any thematic material found in either of the other two films, I find that the change is extremely refreshing. Williams has also stumbled upon new ground that I hope he continues to tread for some time: small, intimate chamber sounds as opposed to the full orchestral glory that has become his trademark. The two tracks that sold me on this score are:
1) "A Window to the Past," which aside from being a hauntingly mournful piece, introduces a rich, colorful instrumentation of recorder, harpsichord, and other medieval/Renaissance sounds that continue on into other tracks. Not only is the sound appropriate to the HP setting, but extremely evocative in a way that will no doubt tug at the heartstrings of the audience.
2) "Finale," which includes the theme from "The Patronus Light," a quiet, ethereal vocal setting of some of the most strikingly simple, beautiful music to come from Williams in years. Simply the fact that he places this, instead of the power of the full orchestra, behind the climactic moment in the film (which would no doubt fit without anyone flinching) is truly a stroke of brilliance. My only disappointment is that these tracks aren't longer!
While the eclectic nature of the music in this score (ranging from quasi-classical minuet to wild jazz to something sounding like Renaissance chamber music) makes it often seem disjointed and sudden in its transitions, I have no doubt that it will add the color to the film that Williams's scores have been lacking in recent years, and will be an engaging listen to anyone with a broad range of musical taste.
Free Music Review: John Williams is brilliant as always!
Hit: 5 Stars
You don't need to be a hardcore Harry Potter fan to love this film score. If you are, then it's a great collector's item to have.The music for the first film was amazing -- as was to be expected of John Williams. The mood of the score fit the movie perfectly. You can mostly say the same for the score of the second movie, and even though there were some variations and one or two new themes, it was still a little bit disappointing to discover that it was basically the first score rewritten.
However, the -third- score, for Prisoner of Azkaban, left me completely speechless. I was one of those people who were hesitant to preorder this soundtrack because I was afraid it would only be another variation of the first film score. Despite being a big Potter fan, I didn't want to waste my money purchasing seven near-identical soundtracks. So I decided to wait until I saw the movie. The moment I returned home from the film, I purchased the soundtrack.
It is absolutely amazing how Williams has twisted it around and still kept the main themes. He adds in a choir, which is annoying for book-purists, but a lovely addition for film score enthusiasts like myself. The song the choir sings, "Double Trouble," is a cousin of "Hedwig's Theme," which links the major themes together very well. The rest of the soundtrack is based off the medieval and dark tone that "Double Trouble" sets. This ominous tone perfectly matches the way the Harry Potter stories begin to darken in the third book, with things such as the introduction of the Dementors, and Harry's past unveiled even more.
Williams also adds more flavor to the score by using jazz styles, like in the track for the Knight Bus (which was incredibly well-written, and suited the scene extremely well), and then some classical flairs like in Aunt Marge's waltz (a very beautifully done piece).
I think my favorite track is probably "A Window To The Past," although it's really very difficult to say when there are so many amazing tracks. "A Window To The Past" still has that medieval taste to it, but it is a very melancholy piece. It's absolutely -gorgeous-. It starts out with some kind of flute playing the basic melody, and later in the track, the entire orchestra joins in to support the theme.
I strongly recommend this film score to all Williams fans and all film score enthusiasts, and, of course, all Harry Potter fans. I can't say that it's definitely the best of the three Harry Potter film scores, because they all are brilliant, but this one is definitely my favorite, and this review does absolutely no justice to how amazing the music is.