![]() ![]() ![]() The album is presented out of film order. Similarly, with a track called "The Kiss", you would hope for a more romantic melody than slowly swelling chords. Yes, it\'s Williamsesque, but it didn\'t add to the sense of danger in the film. The music that Hooper wrote is pleasant, and works fine in the film for the most part, but a cue like the "Hall of Prophecies", which underscores a life-threatening action sequence, is diminished to a steady fugue-like string run with occasional timpani rolls. And of course "Hedwig\'s Theme" shows up a few times, mainly at key moments, and it\'s nicely used ("Another Story", "A Journey to Hogwarts") "The Ministry of Magic" is a solid track, with playful glockenspiel and descending strings that remind me of the beginning of the Les Miserables musical. It\'s uplifting and well done, but it doesn\'t really show up again on the disc. Another Williams-inspired melody is heard in "Dumbledore\'s Army", as a slowly building melody takes shape. The big new theme for the film is presented in "Professor Umbridge", a playful ditty that builds in intensity - reminding me a little bit of Williams\' score to Hook - but not in a bad way. It\'s a fun track and gives the listener hope for what will follow. There\'s an electric guitar here, which seems out of place given the rest of the Harry Potter scores, but it only shows up once (and is buried in the film, if it was there at all). The opening album track is a fun jig-type number called "Fireworks", which takes place in the last third of the film. There are nods (whether intentional or otherwise) to Williams\' Dementors music in "Dementors in the Underpass", and even a few times that I felt the "Window to the Past" theme from Azkaban was going to be used. They maintain a Williams "sensibility", especially in the orchestration and development, but never seem to hit that level of musical satisfaction that Williams has been able to effortlessly achieve. New themes are presented - a slightly quirky, playful theme for Professor Umbridge, a very subtle "possession theme", and a theme for Dumbledore\'s Army. While there was over two hours of score in the film, the album (which runs about 52 minutes long) contains all of the cues that stood out as worth listening to in the film. In that respect, Hooper\'s score to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is successful, but not a standout. The primary purpose of a score is, first and foremost, to work with the film that it\'s composed for. Rather, while Hooper strives to achieve thematic and stylistic congruence with the palette that Williams had created, the end result is mixed, with the effort being noteworthy, but the album ultimately leaving the listener unsatisfied. ![]() Primarily known for his work on British television, Hooper had a formidable challenge ahead of him: would a relatively unknown composer be able to pick up where a master like John Williams and an A-list composer like Patrick Doyle had left off? Would he be able to hold his own against these film music superstars? The answer is not as easy as a simple "yes" or "no. Now for the fifth outing, director David Yates brought along his long-time composer, Nicholas Hooper. Eschewing all of the themes - except for "Hedwig\'s Theme" - in lieu of his own, Doyle composed a love theme for Harry Potter ("Harry in Winter"), as well as a dark theme for Lord Voldermort. However, he was not to return, and Patrick Doyle took over the reigns for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The third film, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was arguably one of the best films in the series, and the score was equally just as wonderful - once again, by John Williams. The second film saw Williams\' return, along with some additional help by William Ross. John Williams\' score to the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer\'s Stone established a few themes, including the primary "Hedwig\'s Theme" (though what Hedwig has to do with the main theme is still a mystery). Nicholas Hooper\'s involvement with the Harry Potter feature film franchise makes him the fourth composer to work on the series. ![]()
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