“The Chamber of Secrets Has Been Opened.” – The Music of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In the summer of 2002 it was learned that William Ross (My Dog Skip, Tuck Everlasting, and The Amazing Panda Adventure) was being brought on board to write the full score for Chamber while a busy John Williams wrote some new themes and some 40 minutes of material. This news was met with both skepticism and praise from the film score community. While William’s Purists were not happy about Ross “treading” on William’s ground, this reviewer would like to think that most people were optimistic about Ross coming in, after all, two heads are better then one right? The result of this partnership was something grand and powerful and that can easily be heard in the opening cue.

I’ve got to comment on the opening cue “Prologue: Book II and the Escape from the Dursleys.” While there is nothing musically new is in the cue it totally reintroduces the listener to “Harry’s World.” Beginning with “Hedwig’s Theme” then going on to “Harry’s Theme” The performances of the London Symphony are just great, this cue is great and gives the listener a look at what once was and then boom we’re off on another adventure.

For Chamber some new themes were crafted, while other themes from the first film were simply expanded. “Fawkes the Phoenix” and “Gilderoy Lockhart” are the some of the new themes written by Williams (What is it with Williams and using the animals of the wizard world to be the catalyst for his themes?) The theme for “Fawkes” is simply amazing. While sounds a little bit like something out of Episode II, the theme is epic in nature and conveys a sense of warmth and caring. The theme uses a lot of string work with some grand William’s swells, a true treasure of the album. Something I noticed about this CD verses the Sorcerer’s Stone the use of the themes like “Hedwig’s Theme” is greatly reduced. Granted that it worked great in the first film, but after a while it does get slightly annoying, a blasphemous thing to say, I know. The theme for “Gilderoy Lockhart” is perfect for the character. Harking back to William’s days at scoring Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lockhart’s Theme borrows a few more than a few notes. But we can over look that…why you ask? Because it fits perfect! The music is playful but at the sometime sounding very devious and cunning, the same words that come to mind when describing Lockhart. Oh and we can’t forget he’s full of himself. Finally, “Dobby, the House Elf” introduces us to a player who is in three places in the film, ironically, the beginning, middle and end. His theme is mischievous and playful; the cue reminds me of something that would be used for a child. Yet as the cue rounds out the music becomes more thematic and epic.

The adapting of cues was a slightly interesting hear but it works so well. “Harry’s Theme” is used more in Chamber than in Sorcerer’s Stone something I really like. I think that theme is one of the strongest and beautiful themes I’ve heard in a few years. The theme comes up usually at the point where Harry (usually with Ron and Hermione) is being the hero of the scene, but in most cases, it goes by quick and is not dwelled upon. The theme plays and then other fresher music comes in to replace it, the use of themes from Sorcerer’s Stone is done, but with care. A fun example of this is the “Konchturn Alley” cue. The cue begins with a very sinister motif, almost like the Voldermort theme. As Harry gets out of Konchturn (a side road of Diagon Alley) the music changes to “Hedwig’s Theme” then into the theme for “Diagon Alley” but that theme is played very softly and not as it was in its original cue, a nice touch I thought, finally, the music ends on “Harry’s Theme” with a slight reworking of course.

More themes that are adapted are the “Ghost” theme for Moaning Myrtle and one of Voldermort’s Theme’s is expanded for “Tom Riddle.” Fans of the “Forbidden Forest” cues will be happy to know it is here on the CD. It’s used in great fashion for the “Meeting Aragog” sequence, which also takes place in the Forest. Funny how that works huh?

This is the part where you’re asking, where is the new stuff besides the themes? Well, the truth is, the whole score is brand new, with new themes and everything. But I’m only going to mention a few high points, the rest I’ll leave up to you to listen to. “The Spiders” is a fun and amazing track. It begins with something that could only be told as a spider crawling along the music (and no, not The X-Files way like Mark Snow does it). The music at the start of the cue is very stringy with almost no brass backing; only later does the brass come in. Soon after the 1:15 point, then the music really picks up, but you still feel like it’s restrained a little bit. As the chase for the spiders progresses so does the music. At about the 2:00 mark, the music really starts taking off with brass backing and the strings building and building. The music then comes to a quick slight pause at about 2:47 then quickly picks back up and goes through the end of the cue. Toward the end of the cue is where it really kick ass. After going to “Hedwig’s Theme” for a few notes, the brass comes back in full force and the strings deliver a great performance and that rounds out the cue.

“Dueling the Basilisk” is an amazing cue. Beginning with “Fawkes’ Theme” the cue kicks off into a high action track ride that never really lets up tell the tracks end. After a slight build up, the orchestra is off. Themes all come back for this final end game, mostly the track uses grand Williams’s style action music mixed in with themes like “Harry” and “Fawkes.” This cue also reminds me of something out of Episode II. Toward the middle of the cue, the chorus comes into play, and they add so much to the cue, I almost wish Williams/Ross had written more for them, they continue to come in and out as the cue finished.

The last part of the album comes together in an almost 10 minute suite. It begins with both light performances of both “Hedwig’s” and “Harry’s” Theme, and finally on CD in some from (it’s slightly adapted), “The House Cup” it plays out in the finale track “Reunion of Friends.” The track also rounds out the track with a slightly (but amazing) performance of “Leaving Hogwarts.” The CD itself finished with a slightly different (only in the end however) of “Harry’s Wondrous World.”

Well there you have it folks, just some of my thoughts on the score and highlights on the disc. As for my favorite track, there are a lot on the CD, but “Reunion of Friends” was a joy to hear. Thank You to Atlantic Records for providing us with another 70 minute CD. While there are cues missing from the disc, (examples that come to mind are “The Quidditch Match” and the Weasley house sequence called “The Borrow.”) this disc is still strong with out them, although another “Quidditch Cue” would have been nice.

Don’t get me wrong, the score to Sorcerer’s Stone was amazing and to Williams credit he gave Potter fans and film score fans alike a score that will be a high point in his carrier, at least I’d like to think so, but really, the combined talents of both Williams and Ross on Chamber resulted in a much more enjoyable experience than I ever imagined.

Bring on Azkaban!

Rating: 4.5 / 5
Favorite Track: 19