Harry Potter Soundtrack Discussions (Updated)

[NumberEight]

I personally like how the score for the fifth film has tracks that are low in volume. You turn it up then it gets loud and startles you. Some of it sounds like dark ambient.

[CARROLiZER]

I think I will buy the HBP soundtrack to be honest, I thinks that I will like it

[petruska]

Did anybody figure out what are the lyrics of In Noctem? I cannot get the end of the Latin part....

English:
Carry my soul into the night
May the stars light my way
I glory in the sight
As darkness takes the day.

Sing a song, a song of life
Made without regret
Tell the ones, the ones I love,
I never will forget.

Latin:
Ferte in noctem anima mea
In lustrae stellae via mea
Aspectum in gloria
Fucatis pars die

Cantate vitae cantibus
Sine dolore cante
Dicite ... ...
Semper ... ...

[thefirestorm]

I bought the Prince soundtrack yesterday.
I was suprised when I saw it - excited of course - because i could have sworn the release date was the 14th.

Anyways i bought it,
I absolutely love it.
Would have to be my favourite one yet, PoA coming close.

I live in Australia by the way.
Maybe it was a different release date here?

Spoiler: show

Dumbledores Farewell and the track that is for the scene where Hermione walks off crying because of Ron are amazing. You can really feel the emotion the music sets.

[wumples]

I just bought the soundtrack today, so here is my review of it after a few listens (without having watched the film yet):

Much like Hooper's score for Order of the Phoenix, the score for Half Blood Prince is often extremely quiet and is hardly memorable. The most notable tracks in my opinion are 'In Noctem', 'Farewell Aragog', 'Harry & Hermione', and 'Dumbledore's Farewell'.

In Noctem is an interesting piece, and seems to fit with the 'gothic' Hogwarts many critics mentioned. Farewell Aragog is very sad sounding, and has a sort of Irish touch to it. The first time i heard it I immediately though of this. Harry&Hermione, though not particularly special by any means, I think it has a very beautiful sound to it, especially the first 30 seconds.

Everything else seems like very forgettable background music (except for maybe Wizard Wheezes and The Weasley Stomp - but I'm not a big fan of those).

[Phrozenone]

Although I still haven't listened to the album on it's own yet (for some reason I can't find it here in this state ) I've grown fond of the HBP soundtrack.

I think it works in the movie really well. I loved the use of the 'Possession' theme this time around and oddly enough it seems to work better in HBP than it did in Order (It was even used more!)

The theme played during Slughorn's first and last talk with Lily in the movie is wonderful aswell as 'Journey to the Cave' That song has been stuck in my head since I last saw the film and humming it I realized it's just the Possession theme again. Only bigger...louder...and all around ep...wait...I'm not using that word

I don't know specific titles of the tracks yet but overall I liked a majority of what I heard in the film.

It was nice to hear Hedwig's Theme again in all it's glory. A smile rose on my face when I heard it in the film. That song really does hold up well but I still wish they'd bring back more of the older themes.

Since Hooper isn't coming back for DH here's hoping they bring Williams back! Once I hear HBP on it's own I'll be able to rate it with the other soundtracks. So far it's near the top for me!

[GryffindorGirl5]

My favorite soundtrack is the Sorcer's stone! :]

[OlorinPotter]

The soundtrack is very good, Ron's Victory, is my fave but I can not get the 5.1 version to run on my PC.

[harry5678]

Here's how I rate the scores:
1.HBP
2.GoF
3.PoA
4.SS
5.CoS
6.Ootp

And personally the Hbp soundtrack is really my favorite, sure the others are good but I think that a movie's score should be good and fit the movie it was made for and ONLY that movie. The others are good as stand-alones, and they were okay with the movies they were in, but with the others (minus Ootp) there were times where the music was distracting (for instance EVERY time I heard the Double Trouble melody in PoA, and how like HALF of the SS score was used in CoS). and with Ootp it was hardly noticable and in a BAD way. If thee wasn't a soundtrack released I wouldn't have known any score was there excpet for "Fireworks" "Professor Umbridge" "Dumbledore's Army" and "Flight of the Order of the Phoenix", which is a bad thing. All the other tracks were subtle but they were TOO subtle IMO. IN HbP, i also found the score hardly noticable, but in a GOOD way. I found it hardly noticable, because it sort of blended with the scenes too me, like i knew it was there in my head (since i had heard it far in advance) but i didn't really sit there and remember the exact track title and everything. I also like HbP the best because of the variety of it that the other ones (especially SS, and CoS) severely lack in. And this score is by far the most memorable to me. I could hear a theme from the first two and not know which one it is from (due to the fact that SS was used frequently in CoS) and I also appluade Nicholas Hooper for reusing the only GOOD songs from Ootp in Hbp, "Fireworks" - I loved the reuseing of this, because it made me feel "YEAH! The twins are back, and they're more awesome then EVER!" and "Wizard Wheezes" just didn't give me that feeling that Fireworks does. Dumbledore's Army - I was fine with this being reused, I don't know why people areso against it, they say it didn't fit, but never say why, so Idk, but I'm fine with it. But yeah about half of the soundtrack is VERY memorable to me, so IMO it's VERY memorable

[mactheknife]

Originally Posted by GryffindorGirl5

My favorite soundtrack is the Sorcer's stone! :]

Mine too .

[LumosSempra]

Originally Posted by Phrozenone

Although I still haven't listened to the album on it's own yet (for some reason I can't find it here in this state )

Have you tried purchasing it from iTunes? That's how I got my album.

Originally Posted by Phrozenone

'Journey to the Cave' That song has been stuck in my head since I last saw the film and humming it I realized it's just the Possession theme again. Only bigger...louder...and all around ep...wait...I'm not using that word

Haha, but it IS epic!! I absolutely LOVE it!! I can't enough of the HBP soundtrack. I haven't really listened to the others, I've only previewed them on iTunes, but for me, this is hands-down the best. I am in love with Hooper's work "Dumbledore's Farewell" makes me cry every time! It's beautiful!

[jallen]

Originally Posted by LumosSempra

Haha, but it IS epic!! I absolutely LOVE it!! I can't enough of the HBP soundtrack. I haven't really listened to the others, I've only previewed them on iTunes, but for me, this is hands-down the best. I am in love with Hooper's work "Dumbledore's Farewell" makes me cry every time! It's beautiful!

Dumbledore's Farewell is an awesome piece of music, but that's about the best you'll get in this soundtrack. It didn't have any of the magic of the previous scores, and all around it was mostly "atmosphere," meaning it's completely forgettable and doesn't really have a tune to it.

[LumosSempra]

Originally Posted by jallen

Dumbledore's Farewell is an awesome piece of music, but that's about the best you'll get in this soundtrack. It didn't have any of the magic of the previous scores, and all around it was mostly "atmosphere," meaning it's completely forgettable and doesn't really have a tune to it.

Well that's your opinion I happen to love just about every piece. I think the fact that it's very subtle and has less of the overdramatic flair is what does it for me. I don't think it takes away from the magic at all. "The Weasley Stomp" is nothing but magic! And the "Harry and Hermione" theme is absolutely beautiful and heart-wrenching.

[DAYLIGHT]

I bought the HBP soundtrack on iTunes last month, and I love listening to it. My faves are

-Opening(The beginning of this song is really cool and emotional.)
-In Noctem(It sounds really haunting... I like it. )
-Ginny(I like how Hedwigs theme is included in it... though I'm not sure why it is included... haha)
-Harry & Hermione(Probably my favorite! I'ts just gorgeous - really emotional.)
-When Ginny Kissed Harry(Sooo beautiful.)
-The Weasley Stomp(So energetic and fun! It makes me smile! )

I haven't listened to any of the other soundtracks before but this one is great! I like Nicholas Hooper's work!

[CrazyMuggle]

Just got the soundtrack today and have only listened to a sample of each track. My favorites are definitely "Harry and Hermione," "Opening," "Inferi in the Firestorm," "Dumbledore's Farewell," "Farewell Aragog," and "In Noctem." I like this soundtrack probably as much as Order of the Phoenix and it really balances the light and dark aspects of the film.

[Phrozenone]

Wow I forgot about this thread

Well I can definatly rate the soundtracks now. The Half Blood Prince soundtrack I've grown very fond of. Not sure why. Alot of it is very atmospheric and alot of the songs work MUCH better on film than they do on their own (which isn't a complaint really.)

Hooper did a great job creating the right mood for HBP I think. There's this certain weight in most of the songs that makes it really a beautiful piece of work. Simple. Yes. That's probably why I didn't like it so much. For a blockbuster film I was expecting something bigger and stronger but he came simple yet very very effective. The HBP is truly a different sound and direction for the Harry Potter films. Although I still wish more old themes would still be present I must applaud Hooper for leaving his stamp and creating a very good piece of work. Is it perfect? Far from it but I enjoy it.

'Opening' is a song I've really grown to enjoy. Although not as much as he could have done Hooper actually had and developed a theme or 2 on this soundtrack. Something that was missed on the last soundtrack. I wonder how long it took him to throw the little bit of Hedwigs Theme at the beginning of this song? It goes into bits from 'Dumbledore's Farewell' (Spoiler warning anyone) and proceeds to go into his Death Eater theme as they destroy the bridge. I hated the Death Eaters theme for ages. Thought it was 2 simple but hey that's Hooper style

"In Noctem" is brilliant. I love the use of this song throughout the soundtrack and it's one of my top favorite Harry Potter songs. One thing I can say about Hooper that although the album as a whole isn't as brilliant as previous entrys in the series he has some REALLY good standalone tracks on this one. This song is, imo, the centerpiece of the album. It is Dumbledore's theme and here simple works. It is exactly how I wanted the "new age" Harry Potter songs to sound like. It still has some of the magic that Williams introduced but is so sad, so haunting, and dare I say so magical (Yeah I had to get a cliche line in here )

'The Story Begins' is a track I don't listen to often. It works in the film but mostly background although I'm still trying to figure out where the end of the song is in the film. Then we move on to 'Ginny'. The best thing about this song is...you know it...'Hedwig's Theme' It's pretty much known that this song HAS to be included and I can't help but smile when it plays. This is a nice song.

'Snape and the Unbreakable Vow' is, once again, background. It works brilliantly in the film. I'd always hoped he'd make a 'Prince Theme' and I think it's a shame the song played during Snape's memory in OOTP (something that didn't appear on the soundtrack) wasn't developed further. That song would have fit perfectly on HBP and it's really a missed oppurtunity.

'Wizard Wheezes' is a fun track. I really like the jazzy style of this song but I do think 'Fireworks' worked better in the film. I think Hooper had fun composing this song and it's really different from anything on the album. I think it represents the Weasley twins very well.

'Dumbledore's Speech' is magnificant. I love this song to bits. The mood it creates...the weight...it's perfect. Not only does it works wonders for my favorite Dumbledore speech in the films but I love how he re introduced his 'Possession' theme here. I don't care what Hooper says 'Possession' wasn't really a theme in OOTP. It was played once in the movie and appeared once on the album. It's a good song but I think it plays out much better on this soundtrack. He uses 'In Noctem' and 'Possession' great together here and is one of the examples of Hooper doing something he didn't do with the last soundtrack. Making the album feel whole instead of just a bunch of random songs thrown together.

'Living Death' is a cool song but I barely listen to it on it's own. Once again I like the song in the movie and it definatly has the right feeling as far as that scene is concern. 'Into the Pensieve' is boring. No suspense at all. I don't even know which Pensieve scene this plays in. I think 'Meeting Tom Riddle' from the Chamber of Secret soundtract was MILES ahead of this song and actually works better for the Pensieve scenes than this does.

'The Book' is another interesting song. I like it...in the film...although I'm not sure why it's called 'The Book' One thing I must say I don't like about Hooper are his track titles

'Ron's Victory' is really good. I'm SO glad to hear another Williams theme back and I love what Hooper did with it. It has a great energy to it and it goes well with one of the better (if not the best) Quidditch scenes in all the films. It's just nice watch PoA and then HBP and hearing SOMETHING from each besides Hedwigs Theme. We needed more of this (I'll get to that later though).

'Harry and Hermione' is another favorite. So simple and in some ways it feels like it should be more to it but it actually really works. I'm not sure if whoever gets the next films will continue to develop this one but I like this song alot. I love how Hooper has a full orchester to work with and he uses as few instruments as possible This guy sticks with what he knows best and I applaud that.

'School!' (again with the titles ) is cool. I like how the last song and this merge together and it works well in the film. Nothing to special but if I listen to 'Harry and Hermione' I usually listen to 'School'

'Draco's Mission' is brilliant. I love this song to bits. Once again very simple and it seems like he could've done so much more to it but it works. This song does so much more to Draco's story than I could've imagined. Like I said before Hooper did some great excellant songs on it. His melodies and all around composition of the songs are simple but he's very good and making the weight of the songs strong. You can just feel the sadness and lonliness in this song. This song SHOULD HAVE been re introduced during 'The Killing of Dumbledore' but I'll rant about that later. I also like how he brings back the Death Eaters theme in this song. Good piece of work.

'The Slug Party' is kind of boring to me. I like it in the film but I never listen to it on it's own. Just isn't interesting enough for me to even review

'Into the Rushes' is kind of the same. Maybe it's because I hate the scene so much The Death Eater theme appears again and that's all I remember about this song.

'Farewell Aragog' is lovely. This is one example of Hooper doing something a little different and it works. It's different from the rest of the album but it fits in very well. Not much more I can say about it.

'Dumbledore's Foreboding' is just 'Dumbledore's Speech' all over again and I have NO idea where 'Of Love and War' even appears in the movie. It brings back the Quidditch theme so maybe it was during the trials before they replaced it with 'Dumbledore's Army' in the film (Still now sure why that was used) Hardly listen to it so can't give an honest opinion.

'When Ginny kissed Harry' another simple tune that works. IT does sound like Hooper wrote this in 5 minutes though It's tender and sweet and it works for the scene that it's in.

'Slughorn Confession' is a song I love. The use of this song in the film is brilliant and it actually holds up pretty well on it's own. Now would I have liked a reprise of 'A Window From the Past' here...yes...but this is a decent replacement I suppose. I love how in the film they built this song around Lily and the scene itself is so strong and this song actually makes it better. IT just seemed like a missed oppurtunity to bring back one of the best themes in the Harry Potter films. Just a few notes would've made me happy but as it is it's great but I do wish there was more to it.

Now the next three songs work together as a trilogy of sorts. They all build off of one another VERY well and is some of the best work Hooper has done that I have heard. The use of the 'Possession' theme in these songs is brilliant and these songs really tell a STORY on their own and uses that theme to get the point across.

'Journey to the Cave' is my favorite song on the album. Why? Because of the story it tells. Listening to it you can tell, even if you haven't seen the film, the urgency of the situation. It starts off really sweet and goes into this urgent section where 'In Noctem' begins to play behind it (I love the use of that) The next section is, of course, the first time I got chills from the music watching the film. As the song swells into a bigger version of 'Possession' I am always swept away. It is SO simple and that's what's so brilliant about it. I wish I could articulate what I mean but I think Hooper rose to the task of making the music right for the particular scene where Harry and Dumbledore are in front of the cave. I love that he used 'Possession' instead of something new and although only a few instruments were used in this section they work together so well and...man...I can't describe it well enough. There are some things he does with instruments (especially at the end of this section) that I love to bits. Moving on though because I'm starting to ramble the song slows down and we get the typical spooky violen invasion as the song slowly fades into....

'The Drink of Despair' is wonderful. I didn't like it at first but once again he brings back 'Possession' (and it makes sense!) I love the violens at the beginning that sound like hundreds of voices talking at once (a brilliant touch) and we get a sad, tragic, version of Possession. This has been the first time that the same song has been used at the end of 2 consecutive films in the Harry Potter franchise and I think it's wonderful.

'Inferi in the Firestorm' had to grow on me and boy has it! I think I got spoiled by the music of this scene in the trailors Once again the 'Possession' theme is built to it's grand finale on this trailer. We go from this very big version, to this sad tragic version, to a triumphet version as the fire sweeps around Harry and Dumbledore. I love the use of the choir and horns on this section. I HATED this when I first saw the film because I was expecting bigger...or course...but I really love how...calm it is. Sadly the next track takes 10 steps backwards from the brilliance of 'The Cave Trilogy' sequence.

'The Killing of Dumbledore' on it's own is horrible. Boring. Uninspired. Such a missed oppurtunity. Draco's theme should have been reintroduced here. 'In Noctem' probably could've made a reprise aswell. It just doesn't work that well on it's own. In the film...brilliant...I can't deny but I think the scene itself works moreso than the music. On it's own though it's just boring. Let's play slow chords build up...slow down..build up and end. It just seems like much thought wasn't put into it. This song should have been where both Dumbledore and Draco's theme come together for their grand finale and it just seems like it could've been so much more. Maybe it'll grow on me but for now

'Dumbledore's Farewell' is a nice song. Nothing to spectacular about it. It designed to make you cry. I do like that I hear this at the beginning and end of the album and I think it's a nice piece of music. Should there have been more? Perhaps but I think it's a nice enough farewell to Dumbledore musically.

'The Friends' is blah. Maybe it works in the film but once again another missed oppurtunity. 'Fawkes the Phoenix' would have been GREAT as The Phoenix Lament. Just a few bars would've taken this song to new heights. This song just seems so...random. I feel that after 'Inferi in the Firestorm' Hooper just gave up It's the ending music though and it does it's job.

'The Weasley Stomp' ...I don't know why this is even here.

lI didn't come into this thread to review the album but there you go If anyone reads it great. I'd like to see more. So overall I give this album a B. It's really good but seems like there are soooo many missed oppurtunities. It's definatly the better of the 2 that Hooper has given us. Order had strong individual songs but HBP was much better as a whole. So my new rank on the soundtracks are:

PoA
HBP
PS/SS
OOTP
GOF/COS

So far Order and HBP have started to keep themes going in the series again and here's hoping we see more of this in the next 2. I just want the music of Harry Potter to work together and tell a story and not be so different from each other. PoA still reigns to me because although the album as a whole isn't as strong the first half is the strongest and best music composed for the entire series.

I must applaud Hooper though because instead of trying to fill John Williams shoes he did what he does best. IF you try to go bigger you usually fail and I'm glad he stuck to his guns and he created something special.

THis album has been nominated for a Grammy so good job Hooper! Although the chances of it winning are slim this is a big step up. He almost did it and I'm sure if he went onto compose the DH movies we'd have some great stuff from him but it wasn't meant to be. I enjoyed Hoopers' journey into the Harry Potter world however and here's hoping his themes aren't forgotten by the next person. Hopefully someone can come in and bring the best of Williams and Hooper together (maybe even a Doyle track or 2) but create something of their own that stands above the rest. Fingers are crossed.

[jallen]

I'd have to say that I really dislike the HBP score. It has some good tunes, but it's just too simple! Half the time it's just chord after chord after chord... Which gets boring after a while. One thing I really liked about Williams was his way to integrate more than one theme into each song (I can't think of an example right off the top of my head - I guess Finale in Prisoner of Azkaban had both Buckbeak's Flight and Window to the Past in it) but still make it sound natural. He also had different themes that didn't sound repetitive. The themes Hooper made - they were nice, but they were almost copy & paste from eachother (like In Noctem), while Double Trouble had different spirits every time it was played - sometimes it was dark, sometimes it was joyous, and it was generally played in a different way every time it was heard. Hooper was just - bleh. Especially with Half-Blood Prince. I remember the days I thought Order of the Phoenix was bad!

So here's my ranking:

PoA
CoS
GoF
PS
OotP
HBP

[Lilleby]

Originally Posted by jallen

One thing I really liked about Williams was his way to integrate more than one theme into each song (I can't think of an example right off the top of my head - I guess Finale in Prisoner of Azkaban had both Buckbeak's Flight and Window to the Past in it) but still make it sound natural. He also had different themes that didn't sound repetitive. The themes Hooper made - they were nice, but they were almost copy & paste from eachother (like In Noctem), while Double Trouble had different spirits every time it was played - sometimes it was dark, sometimes it was joyous, and it was generally played in a different way every time it was heard.

Agree. Like "Knockturn Alley" from CoS soundtrack; starts with that spooky music also played under Harry's sorting, then Hedwig's theme is played, then the Diagon Alley tune comes for a short visit and it ends with Harry's theme.
No new themes, just new arrangements of them, and it sounds great

[merrymarge]

Is the only way to get the soundtracks from i-tunes? I don't have an i-pod, so, I guess I can't get any of the music. Last year, I saw some music c.d.s at my local Target just before Christmas, but when I wanted to buy them after Christmas, they were gone.

[jallen]

Originally Posted by merrymarge

Is the only way to get the soundtracks from i-tunes? I don't have an i-pod, so, I guess I can't get any of the music. Last year, I saw some music c.d.s at my local Target just before Christmas, but when I wanted to buy them after Christmas, they were gone.

You don't need an iPod to use iTunes. You can put iTunes music on an MP3 player, because you can convert the files to MP3 and then find them in the file system.

And iTunes isn't the only way to get the soundtracks. I see them in stores all the time, and if you don't find it there, Amazon has them.