Music is a huge part of my life and my collection of music has baffled many people over the years. I'm rather eclectic and a shuffling of my music library can bring you into a world that consists of a wide variety of emotions and feelings let alone genres. That is one of the many reasons why I tend to love soundtracks. Composers will often take us on a journey through a movie or musical or show that makes us happy and excited in one moment only to be overly angry and frustrated in the next. Not to mention sorrowful or mournful for one track only to be confused and contemplative right after.
Seeing as how this issue's theme is Magical Creatures as Pets, I'm going to stick to that topic for this article. John Williams masterfully leads us through Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone making sure to include a few magical creatures along the way. In The Norwegian Ridgeback and a Change of Season we get a song that left me feeling quite impish and mischievous. We all know the scenes involving Rubeus Hagrid receiving what he's always wanted -a dragon egg- had a fair amount of subterfuge and machinations. Later on we get a rather dark and almost foreboding or haunting melody that includes an instrument we don't often get to hear in the track entitled Fluffy's Harp. Then, of course, who could ever forget the oft-played and iconic track entitled Hedwig's Theme. I recall hearing so many people using that as a ringtone when the movie came out.
With the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets soundtrack, the venerable John Williams returned to give us tracks such as the bouncy and yet still delicate melody of Fawkes the Phoenix. I felt like this was a great piece to use early on in the soundtrack as it helped to set a light-hearted and innocent mood to keep us interested. Later on, however, we get the fairly creepy tracks entitled The Spiders and Meeting Aragog that gave many listeners goosebumps, making the hair on our arms raise just a bit while in a dark and drafty theatre. Ron and Harry's adventure in the Forbidden Forest simply would not have been the same without it. "Go? I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command, but I cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid." We are then brought back to feeling mischievous and frantic with the offering entitled Cornish Pixies before being thrown into a whirlwind of emotions in Dueling the Basilisk.
As you can probably tell, I'm quite a fan of John Williams. I won't bore you with more platitudes or praise for the man, just know that our journey throughout the Harry Potter series was all the more magical thanks to the musical knowledge and skills of its composers. Do you have a favorite track? Perhaps something that you turn to when in a certain mood? Let us know over in our SOUP thread in the Common Room!
I think it's time for a catnap now, or perhaps a period of meditation using one of the soundtracks for our beloved series about the Boy-Who-Lived. Join me next time for a not-so-in-depth detailing of musical offerings, but until then I'd like you to meet my newest friend, Pickett II!
