Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (soundtrack)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Soundtrack album by
John Williams
Released30 October 2001
RecordedAugust – September 2001
Studio
Length73:35
Label
John Williams chronology
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
(2001) 		Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2001) 		Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
(2002)
Wizarding World soundtrack chronology
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2001) 		Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
(2002)

The soundtrack to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the United States) was released on 30 October 2001. The film's score was composed and conducted by John Williams. The soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Score at the 74th Academy Awards. The film introduces many character-specific themes (leitmotifs) that are used in at least one sequel as well, although most of the themes are only used again in Chamber of Secrets. These themes include two themes for Voldemort, two themes for Hogwarts, a Diagon Alley theme, a Quidditch theme, a flying theme, two friendship themes, and the main theme ("Hedwig's Theme"). This main theme was reprised and developed in all eight of the main Harry Potter films, as well as the spinoff films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and its sequels, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

The soundtrack was certified gold in Canada (50,000 units) by the Canadian Recording Industry Association on 14 December 2001.[1] It was also certified gold in Japan for 100,000 units by the RIAJ.[2] In 2002, the soundtrack was nominated for Best Original Score at the 74th Academy Awards in which Williams took part in conducting the ceremony. However, Williams lost to Howard Shore's score of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

The score was performed by a 102-piece of the London Session Orchestra at AIR Lyndhurst Studios and Abbey Road Studios in London with orchestrations provided by Williams, Alexander Courage, Conrad Pope, John Neufeld, Eddie Karam, Pete Anthony, Benjamin Wallfisch and Larry Rench. It entered the Billboard 200 at No. 48 and also charted at No. 2 on the Top Soundtracks Chart.[3] In UK, the album charted at number 19. In 2018, the soundtrack was released by La-La-Land Records as a 3-Disc CD set encompassing the complete score of the film as part of a limited edition box set featuring the scores for the first three Harry Potter films.

Composition

Hedwig's Theme

Main article: Hedwig's Theme
"Hedwig's Theme"
A selection from the iconic "Hedwig's Theme" from the Harry Potter films
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"Hedwig's Theme" is the leitmotif for the film series.[4] Often labelled as the series's main theme, it first appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the track "Prologue". A concert arrangement of the same name is included in the end credits. "Hedwig's Theme" has been interpolated in the fourth through eighth Harry Potter film scores, including in those by Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper, and Alexandre Desplat and the spin-off Fantastic Beasts scores by James Newton Howard. It also appears in the scores to the last four Harry Potter video games, all composed by James Hannigan. "Hedwig's Theme" has achieved significant pop culture status, being featured as ring tones, trailer music, and other forms of multimedia.

Track listing

Original release

No.TitleLength
1."Prologue"2:12
2."Harry's Wondrous World"5:21
3."The Arrival of Baby Harry"4:25
4."Visit to the Zoo and Letters from Hogwarts"3:23
5."Diagon Alley and The Gringotts Vault"4:06
6."Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and The Journey to Hogwarts"3:14
7."Entry into the Great Hall and The Banquet"3:42
8."Mr. Longbottom Flies"3:35
9."Hogwarts Forever! and The Moving Stairs"3:47
10."The Norwegian Ridgeback and A Change of Season"2:47
11."The Quidditch Match"8:29
12."Christmas at Hogwarts"2:56
13."The Invisibility Cloak and The Library Scene"3:16
14."Fluffy's Harp"2:39
15."In the Devil's Snare and The Flying Keys"2:21
16."The Chess Game"3:49
17."The Face of Voldemort"6:10
18."Leaving Hogwarts"2:14
19."Hedwig's Theme"5:11
Total length:73:28

Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection: Disc 1

The Film Score
No.TitleLength
1."The Prologue – Privet Drive"4:33
2."Visit to the Zoo"3:01
3."Don’t Burn My Letter"2:08
4."Letters From Hogwarts"1:43
5."Harry’s Wish and Hagrid’s Entrance"1:24
6."You’re a Wizard, Harry"3:34
7."Diagon Alley and The Gringotts Vault [Extended Version]"4:50
8."Harry Gets His Wand"2:08
9."Hagrid’s Flashback"2:53
10."Platform Nine and Three Quarters"2:43
11."Chocolate Frog Escapes"0:52
12."The Journey to Hogwarts"2:07
13."Through the Doors"2:01
14."House Selection"3:31
15."Entry Into the Great Hall and The Banquet"3:44
16."Lonely First Night"1:08
17."The Daily Prophet"1:41
18."Mr. Longbottom Flies"3:37
19."The Moving Stairs"2:01
20."Introduction to Quidditch"1:35
21."Hermione’s Feather"0:37
22."Fighting the Troll"3:49
23."Owl Delivers Nimbus 2000"1:16
24."The Quidditch Match"8:29

Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection: Disc 2

The Film Score (continued)
No.TitleLength
1."Hagrid’s Christmas Tree"0:59
2."Cast a Christmas Spell"2:41
3."Christmas Morning and The Invisibility Cloak"7:22
4."The Mirror of Erised and A Change of Season"3:35
5."Hermione’s Reading"1:11
6."The Norwegian Ridgeback"1:41
7."Filch’s Fond Remembrance"1:31
8."The Dark Forest"5:17
9."The Stone"3:41
10."Running to McGonagall"2:16
11."Neville Stiffens"0:57
12."Fluffy’s Harp Lullaby"2:30
13."In the Devil’s Snare"2:29
14."The Flying Keys"2:01
15."The Chess Game [Extended Version]"7:27
16."The Face of Voldemort"6:13
17."Love, Harry"1:47
18."Gryffindor Wins the House Cup"2:40
19."Leaving Hogwarts"2:18
20."Harry’s Wondrous World [Extended Version]"5:26
21."Hedwig’s Theme"5:07

Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection: Disc 3

Children's Suite for Orchestra
No.TitleLength
1."Prologue (Hedwig’s Flight)"2:15
2."Hogwarts Forever"1:55
3."Voldemort"2:16
4."Nimbus 2000"2:28
5."Fluffy’s Harp"2:42
6."Quidditch"1:53
7."Family Portrait"3:26
8."Diagon Alley"2:53
9."Harry’s Wondrous World"5:05
Additional Music
No.TitleLength
10."Hagrid’s Flute"0:58
11."The Leaky Cauldron"1:15
12."Hedwig’s Theme for Harp"2:06
13."Teaser"2:34
14."Hogwarts Forever [Vocal Version]"0:48
15."Logo"0:24
16."Owl’s Flight"1:08
17."Television Commercial"1:06
18."Trailer"2:27

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Filmtracks
Movie Wave
Tracksounds

Whilst the score received mostly positive reviews from outlets such as AllMusic and Filmtracks, some reviewers were not impressed; USA Today reviewer Claudia Puig stated the "overly insistent score lacks subtlety and bludgeons us with crescendos."[5] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter deemed the score "a great clanging, banging music box that simply will not shut up."[6]

Behind the scenes

James Horner was approached to compose the score for the film but he turned it down.[7]

Track No. 18 is also included in the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 as a tribute to Williams and the series' end.[citation needed]

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[8] Gold 35,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Gold & Platinum - December 2001". Archived from the original on 17 August 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
  2. ^ "GOLD ALBUM 他認定作品 2002年1月度" [Gold Albums, and other certified works. January 2002 Edition] (PDF). The Record (Bulletin) (in Japanese). 508. Chūō, Tokyo: Recording Industry Association of Japan: 12. 10 March 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  3. ^ Trust, Gary (24 November 2010). "Weekly Chart Notes: Rihanna, Gwyneth Paltrow, the Beatles". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 25 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Harry Potter soundtrack: 'Hedwig's Theme' and everything to know about the film franchise's magical score". Classic FM. Retrieved 28 November 2020.
  5. ^ Puig, Claudia (16 November 2001). "Visually stunning 'Potter' falls short of pure magic". USA Today. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  6. ^ Honeycutt, Kirk (14 November 2016). "'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone': THR's 2001 Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
  7. ^ "R.I.P. James Horner". The A.V. Club. 23 June 2015.
  8. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2002 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 27 December 2021.