“What Can You Tell Me About Horcruxes?” – The Music of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

You know, it’s funny, before I started writing this, I got an email from the webmaster at MovieMusic.com asking if I was going to submit something or if I’d retired from doing them. It dawned on me that I have been writing and talking about the scores of Harry Potter for almost 10 years. That’s kind of crazy if you think about it and by the time the final film is released, it will have been 10 years!

I think one of the things that has made the Potter scores suffer over the last few films is the musical continuity that tied the first three Williams score together. While Doyle brought some great new thematic (and darker) ideas into the cauldron of music, I think what Hooper has brought is decent at best. Granted, an argument can be made that all of the composers have their own styles and thematic ideas about what Harry’s World should be, and while this is very true, I still do believe that a certain thematic style can be changed and morphed with still keeping the original intent that Williams brought forth with the first three films.

When it was originally announced that David Yates’ longtime collaborator, Nicholas Hooper would be assigned the task of composing Order Of The Phoenix, I think it’s safe to assume that the fans of the Potter music (not to mention possibility the film score enthusiast community) held it’s collective breath. At least with Doyle, listeners had a very large body of work to ideas draw from, thus making it easier to discern what Doyle might do musically, but with Hooper, I think we were all sending up big question marks.

After just recently re-watching Order Of The Phoenix, it’s not that I dislike what Hooper did, it just sounded like a very freshmen entry into a big film a like Harry Potter, not that I blame him for taking a very restrained approach, I think anyone would play it safe. But in all honestly, the music in the film really doesn’t pack the punch that I think it needed to. But, I do generally believe that he writes some very nice music, especially when coupled with picture, and in all honestly, I was really excited to hear what Hooper was going to come up with for The Half-Blood Prince.

Now, before I go on, I feel the need to mention that I was personally, very unhappy with the film. While the film technically excels, I felt that Kloves’ script was very much lacking and turning the story inside out and making it something totally different from the book. Yes, that is a normal and a very traveled road when adapting book to films, but the other Potter films did their very best, and I felt that this one just did it all completely incorrect. And this coming from a huge fan of all the other films and the books. That said, before everyone freaks out, the score to The Half-Blood Prince is not horrible by any stretch of the imagination, and it is very serviceable within the film itself, very much giving weight to certain scenes. It’s definitely darker and not as whimsical as Phoenix was. There are some good and great moments in the score, all things that I would have liked to have seen developed throughout the musical fabric that Hooper should have been doing since Phoenix. Some thematic ideas were in fact carried over, some more flushed out then others. The “Fireworks” cue, which now, I think we can simply call “The Weasley Theme,” which appears in “The Weasley Stomp” cue, and the “Fireworks” cue from “Phoenix” also appears in the film as well, but not featured on the CD. A variation on Umbridge’s Theme, makes an appearance in “Living Death.” Finally, the theme for “Possession.” It comes in to play towards the end of the score, culminating in the finale of the hauntingly beautiful “Inferi In The Firestorm.” As for Williams material, we of course hear, “Hegwig’s Theme,” in the “Opening” and “Ginny” cues and some of Williams Quidditch material from Sorcerer’s Stone,makes in to “Ron’s Victory” and “Of Love & War.”

For new material, probably the biggest over arching theme in the score is first heard in the second cue on the disc, “In Noctem.” Hooper creates a very sad and tragic cue to symbolize the lament of Dumbledore’s death that hangs over the whole story. That particular cue is sung with a choir and it really is a good theme and in all honestly, it got me really excited for what I might hear after those few opening cues. The theme is also heard throughout the score through various interpretations when pertaining to Dumbeldore. In “Dumbledore’s Speech” and “Dumbeldore’s Foreboding” the theme comes in again with a light choral backing and some darker brass and string work. Another cue to note is the “Journey To The Cave.” Here the theme takes a turn and becomes this rather large piece towards the middle of the cue. Large choral and brass backing with some strings tossed in. The final cue I’d like to mention with this new theme is “Dumbledore’s Farewell.” The choral backing returns as a solo cello plays out the theme, thus delivering the emotional punch that the few cues before it slightly lacked.

While “In Noctem” is really one of Hooper’s standout themes, in this score, Hooper does indeed deliver some other thematic material that while short, is very well written, but unfortunately, the power of those few cues, at least in my opinion, doesn’t transfer to the rest of Hooper’s score in general.

“Opening” really establishes some driving rhythms in the later part of the cue that I really liked. There’s some really great string work and light choral in this cue, coupled with “Hedwig’s Theme,” it’s a nice opener and really does set the tone for the story that we’re about to see and hear. “Farewell Aragog” is a very somber theme for the giant spider from Chamber of Secrets. Using some very light strings and some celtic themes, Hooper establishes a really nice thematic piece for the death of the spider. “The Friends” establishes a really sad, uplifting and great musical finality at what Harry, Ron and Hermione are about to embark upon that serves as the basis for The Deathly Hallows.

Like with Phoenix, there is some really good stuff in this score, but I think on the whole, once again, not very satisfying as a listening experience outside of the film. Most of the score, while more mature then Phoenix just doesn’t do much for an experience like the other four. It’s not that Hooper writes bad music, it’s just that his music is mainly used for picture, and really, that’s why a film score is written in the first place, not as a listening experience.

All of this said, I do believe that what Hooper is building for could be great, grand and epic. I wanted this score to be something bigger, larger, more thematic…and when compared to Phoenix it’s a few notches above, but still, as a fan of the films and the books, it’s definitely not what I wanted. Maybe he’s saving it all for The Deathly Hallows.

Now, it’s rumored that Williams is in talks to come back for the final two films, but as of this writing, that remains to be seen. Hooper recently claimed in an FSM interview that he was not coming back for The Deathly Hallows, citing spending more time with his family as his reasons. Personally, I’d really like to see him give it all he’s got to deliver something truly magical. I for one, believe he can, but I’m not going to argue one bit if Williams chooses to return.

And now, I am off to search for The Deathly Hallows.

Rating: 3.5 / 5
Favorite Track: 2