Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by John Williams
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

by John Williams

CD

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Overview

John Williams, when working within the realms of science fiction or fantasy, somehow manages to convey the same level of magic and whimsy inherent in Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy. For the first two Harry Potter films he employed an instantly memorable theme augmented by a series of elegant yet uninspired action motifs that while effortless were, like the films themselves, merely adequate. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban finds the Oscar-winning composer swelled with a creative giddiness that hasn't been present for some time, resulting in a piece of work that's both fully realized and endlessly unpredictable. Beginning with the familiar celesta cue that launches each installment, Williams seems poised to deliver a solid reworking of the previous scores, but that sentiment is abruptly quelled by the jazzy, big-band one-two punch of "Aunt Margie's Waltz" and "The Knight Bus" -- the latter borrows liberally from his outstanding Mancini-esque work on Catch Me If You Can. What follows is an intoxicating fusion of medieval-meets-Rossini-meets-Arvo Paert mayhem that recalls his Close Encounters of the Third Kind heyday. Director Alfonso Cuaron's youthful enthusiasm has had an effect on Williams, and nowhere is that more apparent than on "Double Trouble," a devious choral piece cleverly built around the prose of Shakespeare's Macbeth and devilishly sung by the London Oratory School Schola Children's Choir. It's this melody, culled from bits and pieces of "Hedwig's Theme" from The Sorcerer's Stone, that permeates the entire score. Williams has a deep understanding of the orchestra, and his love of woodwinds is on glorious display throughout the work's entirety, but they never overplay -- as was often the case in the previous two films -- even the thunderous Kodo-style tympanis that introduce the Hypogriff "Buckbeak" are merely exclamation points announcing the arrival of one of the composer's most beautiful melodies. The Prisoner of Azkaban is thought by many to be the finest book in the series, and it would seem that both the director and the composer agree. Like Cuaron and Rowling, Williams meets his characters -- children especially -- on common ground, allowing them to laugh, suffer, fail, and succeed on their own terms. He may be the author and director's emotional conduit, but he's a master storyteller as well. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date: 01/13/2008
Label: Atlantic
UPC: 0075678371158
Rank: 41321

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Williams   Primary Artist,Conductor
London Voices   Choir/Chorus
Dufay Collective   Ensemble
John "Buddy" Williams   Conductor
London Oratory Schola Cantorum   Children's Chorus
Randy Kerber   Celeste,Soloist

Technical Credits

John Williams   Audio Production,Composer,Producer
Marcia Crayford   Concert Mistress
Ken Wannberg   Music Editor
Isobel Griffiths   Orchestra Contractor
Gary LeMel   Executive in Charge of Music
Andrew Dudman   Score,Scoring Crew
Shawn Murphy   Mixing,Engineer
Peter Myles   Music Editor
Patricia Sullivan Fourstar   Mastering
Dave Forty   Score,Scoring Crew
Lisa Margolis   Business Consultant
Keith Zajic   Business Consultant
Michael Kushner   Business Consultant
John "Buddy" Williams   Producer
Ariel B. Taitz   Business Consultant
David Gould   Score,Scoring Crew
Charles R. Barrett   Package Design
Dirk Hebert   Business Consultant
Doug Frank   Executive in Charge of Music
Alfonso Cuaron   Liner Notes
Chip Dorsch   Product Manager
Stephen Grahl   Children's Choirmaster
Debi Streeter   Music Administrator
Jon Olive   Technical Support
Sam O'Kell   Score,Scoring Crew
Roland Heap   Score,Scoring Crew
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