# Who is the best Harry Potter composer so far?



## alphabetgreen (Apr 30, 2011)

This is a poll based solely on the HP films and nothing else.

But before you vote, consider a few things.

a. John Williams composed 'Hedwig's Theme' (the famous tune), and the other following composers had to abide by that.

b. John Williams agreed to work on one of these films when he had three others in the pipeline that year.

c. Don't be influenced by your favourite film, or even favourite book. The film music is the crux of this question.

d. Personally, I've read HP 1- 7 several times and seen the movies nearly as many, and only one composer really caught my attention. And I have never written incidental music before in my life.

Happy voting chaps!!!


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## antoniopandrade (Apr 30, 2011)

You forgot to include Alexandre Desplat (composer for the 2 parts of the 7th movie). His score, although very different from Williams', is on the same level, imo, and far superior to Hoopers'!


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## alphabetgreen (Apr 30, 2011)

I put in a 4th alternative on the poll:

HP7: Alexandre Desplat


Where is it?


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## antoniopandrade (Apr 30, 2011)

Hmm, I don't see it, maybe a forum bug?


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## RiffWraith (Apr 30, 2011)

alphabetgreen @ Sun May 01 said:


> Where is it?



http://www.jeffreyhayat.com/vipoll.jpg

:D


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## Ed (Apr 30, 2011)

The early Potter's were much lighter than they are now, and I know Williams could do dark Potter if he was scoring it. But remember without Williams' theme the music of Harry Potter would be a lot more, how shall I say... dull by comparison... its the theme everyone remembers. You have to have a load of points for that.


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## wst3 (Apr 30, 2011)

I'd have to go with JW simply because he started the franchise, and influenced it immensely. I've enjoyed all the scores, and I think that #s 1 & 7 were probably my favorite scores, which puts me on squarely on the fence. What I need to learn more about is the division of duties on 7 - I was unaware.


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## alphabetgreen (Apr 30, 2011)

From the heart, as a composer. Is that tune really that good, say if you were to compare it to..... the 1st movement of Sibelius's Karelia Suite?

Good melodies are hard to come by and I wouldn't count 'Hedwig's Theme' as being up there with the best of them.

But I would say that Nick Hooper's "Weasley Twin's getaway" from Hogwart's. a close contender.

Only my humble opinion 8)


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## wst3 (Apr 30, 2011)

with respect to film, and this is just my opinion, it is not so much about a great melody, or a great anything, so much as a piece that (a) fits well and (b) is memorable. I think "fits well" if by far more important, but memorable isn't a bad thing. And, with that in mind, I do think the score for movie #1 set the pace.


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## Frederick Russ (Apr 30, 2011)

From an emotional standpoint, the films done after John Williams left the series have been increasingly darker and less descriptive emotionally via the music that accompanied it. Its not to say that the other guys are hacks - they're decent composers - but in my opinion, Williams is at a whole different level of conveying deeper emotions (rather than yet another opportunity for the scoring tricks of essentially "Batman Begins" onto Harry Potter films). Don't get me wrong - I admit that I love those scoring tricks especially in regards to the famous Hans Zimmer scores and some high end trailer music, but I think the Harry Potter series on a whole took a turn for the worst when Williams left it as a note in his resume rather than as an ongoing development both thematically and orchestrally - of more things happening than essentially pedaling 16th notes as the only crutch to convey emotional depth. Its cool, but it gets old where the characters, because of the music, appear more like 2D cardboard cutouts (works great in comic books but less so in drama) and the films suffer for it. IMO.


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## EastWest Lurker (Apr 30, 2011)

John Williams, by far.


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## lux (Apr 30, 2011)

"best" is a relative concept


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## Aaron Sapp (Apr 30, 2011)

That almost comes off as a trick question. I remember watching a featurette for the later Harry Potter films where the composers all said that they were no match for Williams, basically. 

Even the 'lighter' stuff in the first Potter movie had a haunting undertone. I think my favorite musical moment is the scene where the new students first approach Hogwarts on those boats. Magic. Quidditch match - I probably listened to that track a couple hundred times. Obviously the theme is classic. 

Don't know who really scored the second film - William Ross or John Williams. Few nice moments in there. Fawkes comes to mind. 

Third film is outstanding. Music that plays during the hippogriff flying sequence... the bus scene, the werewolf scene, time-traveling scene, patronum scene, the end credits, etc. Gorgeous music. 

For the life of me I can't remember a lick from the other films...


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## mverta (Apr 30, 2011)

This is a hard question for me to answer. I'm still trying to figure out who was a better Inspector Clouseau: Peter Sellers or Steve Martin.


_Mike


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## Daniel James (Apr 30, 2011)

LOL I love how you started this off by trying to sell John Williams to us.


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 1, 2011)

This is really a no-brainer. 


No other composer since Williams has come close to what he did. I completely agree with Frederick.

Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite. I thought all other composers fell dramatically short of what was needed thematically and emotionally in the other films!

Hands Down - John Williams!


Best,

Tanuj.


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## lux (May 1, 2011)

this forum is kinda becoming just a tad self referencial


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## Simon Ravn (May 1, 2011)

It probably comes to no surprise that I choose John Williams  However, Patrick Doyle's score was also very solid and had some great cues, as does Alexandre Desplat's. Nick Hooper... sorry but I think except for maybe one or two cues, his music was overly simple (I won't even start counting the number of times we had to go through string tremolo swells) and boring - just barely functional, I would say. 

It would have been interesting if Williams had come back for the last one or two films, but since that's not happening, I think Alexandre Desplat delivers his own, very nice, take on the films - looking forward to the last film and the last score.


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## Tanuj Tiku (May 1, 2011)

Desplat's music had some moments but I did not feel that he did his best or was allowed to! His other works are far superior and even more 'Desplat like' 

The opening of the last Harry Potter felt like Zimmer for some reason. 

I would have much prefered if John Williams had done all of the films. At least for the last two. He is truly a master. Even in this age of cool sound effects and some really cutting-edge sounds, Williams music holds up. He comes up with a different sound for many of his films that is just as good as using synths or anything else. Minority report was one such score. Its an incredibly difficult score to perform!

Desplat is a solid composer and I otherwise love his work.


Best,

Tanuj.


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## sherief83 (May 1, 2011)

I just got done watching all 7 films actually.And thought I should vent out some thoughts.

John Williams made the films Magical. He composed a symphony within the films which no composer can do that now and make it work so Good. That to me was what made Harry potter a pleasant watch and it took me a while to get used to the changes they made after he left the films. 

Nichols hooper: I really love what he did with the order of the phoenix and I place it right after Williams for its great melodic touches. That said, Half blood prince was the poorest score of all 7 films. 

Doyle: I like what he did. The Valse that he composed(for the party scene) is very memorable and well executed. that and the very intro of the film with his take on the Hedwig theme was twisted and catchy. 

Desplat: I don't really remember anything from film with his music, it doesn't stand out from the film at all. but I did have a listen to the score it self. some very subtle and deep good orchestration work. In fact, the most inspired since Williams. The Zimmer/howard influence and the "fairly standard" ostinatos are all over the score which made it OK for me for now. I'm sure it'll grow on me once the Zimmer ostinatos take a vacation from the scoring world. I honestly think its the director who keeps wanting them and keeps asking for them since I've heard them in all his movies (David Yates)

I'm looking forward to the last movie and have my hopes that Desplat would deliver it just Big (Bigger than the over used "Epic")


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## Guy Bacos (May 1, 2011)

Wow Sherief, you really done your homework. Nice! 

I'm not at all a fan of Harry Potter, so haven't seen any of them.


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