The World of Harry Potter, Part 1: John Williams

Welcome to World of Soundtracks, a monthly podcast where we explore storytelling aspects in films and TV through music. Whether it is comparing book adaptations, observing themes over a series, or micro analyzing the choice of instruments, we look at how the story is told and moves us. I am your host Ruth Mudge and today we will be looking at the musical world from Harry Potter.

This is the fourth and final episode on music from the Harry Potter series and it will be a two-parter as there is so much to cover. With the previous episodes, we explored character and relationship themes, as well as the iconic Hedwig’s Theme which is used for multiple purposes from Harry’s theme as well as representing the world of Magic and Hogwarts. In this episode, we will explore the ways the various composers used instruments and themes to create the world of magic, both through music styles that are very familiar to us and as well as their choices that help to set the world apart from the normal Muggle world. It is a fine line to ground the world in our established musical history but also give it its unique qualities that set apart the world of magic, to the school of magic to creatures to flying.

Much of the world is established by John Williams and his first three films which will be the focus of this first episode. While Hedwig’s Theme is part of establishing the main theme and musical world, he also uses the combination of older instruments and oddly placed notes to establish something both familiar and yet different. He uses the Western orchestral sound of the late Romantics mixed with a little Stravinsky from the early 20th century in the first film which then influences the sound for all the films moving forward.

The celeste, a keyboard playing bells, is one of the primary instruments for magic for over a century from the Nutcracker ballet by Tchaikovsky to Pinocchio to Bedknobs and Broomsticks and has become synonymous with the sound of Harry Potter. To this day, I know people who will hear that instrument in other unrelated soundtracks and immediately think of Harry Potter.

The celeste opens the entire series before the violins and chimes join in weaving up and down.

Another color for the magical world is often the sound of choir, giving it a mysterious sound, as the movie opens with a dark night and Dumbledore taking away the lights from Privet Drive. Musically, it keeps a balance between light in the chimes and celeste with the spooky unknowns in minor in the low cellos, the weaving up and down in the violins and choir, with a little of Hedwig’s Theme thrown in. “The Arrival of Baby Harry”

ench composer Paul Dukas from: 1897

While the opening establishes the late-romantic sound and homage to the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, John Williams clearly makes it his own with a few odd notes that doesn’t quite fit in with the normal harmonies and appear much more discordant both in Hedwig’s Theme and then other themes and places as the magical world is explored.

Since the series is primarily through Harry’s eyes and experiences, the audience gets introduced to the magical world along with Harry as he first sees Diagon Alley and Gringott’s bank where he sees goblins for the first time. There is a mixture of joy and wonder as he sees this beautiful place heard in the grandeur of the brass (with a few dissonant notes as a reminder that the world is slightly different) and then the more curious angular oboe as he watches the goblins at work. “Gringott’s Bank” (1:25)

t Romeo and Juliet written in: 1935

The combination of joy and wonder is heard with the bizarre and dissonant as Harry enters Hogwarts with the first-year students, mixed with joyful brass fanfare and sleigh bells but then moving to an odd and slightly unsettling violin solo as they meet Professor McGonagall for the first time. “The Journey to Hogwarts” (2:10)

This trumpet fanfare continues as the students enter the great hall seeing all the students and their houses, headed towards the sorting hat, which leads to one of the school songs written for Hogwarts.

“Hogwarts Forever” is seemingly like a school hymn or song with a few odd notes that almost sound like students accidentally played incorrect notes. The full brass version heard on the soundtrack was originally part of John Williams’ Children’s Suite and while present throughout the first film, it is not heard in that specific version, especially with the moving trombone line. “Hogwarts Forever”

The song first plays when Hermione is sorted into Gryffindor and then again in the bassoons when Harry is called towards the Sorting Hat, with the horn taking it up again when he joins the Gryffindor table. One could argue that the theme almost seems to be more Gryffindor focused than Hogwarts but considering that the story is being told through Harry and his friends, that is part of his first experiencing magic and the school. “The Banquet” (2:07)

The clarinets and Strings play this school theme as the first years are brought to their dormitories, experiencing the moving staircases, arriving at the door requesting a password and seeing figures move in the paintings. (2:43)

Hogwarts is also a place where Harry not only learns about his parents but connects to them. The school theme is heard in a solo French Horn as he and Hermione sees his Dad’s medal for playing Quidditch which in turn helps Harry connect school, flying, Quidditch with his Dad as he becomes the youngest seeker for his team. “Hogwarts Forever 1:53”

The school theme plays one last time as Harry’s team wins a point during his first Quidditch match, this time playing it much faster as it is in the midst of the game. “The Quidditch Match” (3:17)

While this theme is not continued in the series, it did help to set the sound of Hogwarts before themes of family took over for Harry’s connections to the school and the people within.

While the moving Staircase were introduced as delightful if not a little confusing, they do cause problems for them later on. The use of choir suggests spooky danger or mystery as the Trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron get moved to the forbidden floor. Combined with swirling harps and flutes, it helps to musically portray the moving aspect of the Trio being taken somewhere new. “The Moving Stairs” (2:10)

Choir is often used for the ghosts at Hogwarts which is a common musical idea for ghosts since they had been people but usually hanging around after a macabre death. In this case, most of them are nice or mischievous so while making them sound spooky, there is no actual danger with these ghosts.

They are first introduced doing the first feast at Hogwarts, heard with female choir swirling around as they appear. One of the best examples is heard in full form on the soundtrack but only briefly in the film, as weird background speaking/singing is heard over electronics at Christmas Time, as Hermione says goodbye to Harry for Christmas break. It sounds as if it could be taken straight out of Charles Dickens’ The Christmas Carol. “Christmas at Hogwarts” (0:21)

One of the main aspects of Hogwarts, like many schools, is the focus on team sports which in this case is the game of Quidditch. One of the unique aspects of this game is that it involves flying. In the movies, it often seen or heard like a battle as the teams and houses take this very seriously. In fact, there are several moments in the first two films where the music sounds remarkably similar to the prequel Star Wars movies which were coming out in a similar time. Even as Harry’s team gets ready to arrive on the field for his first game, the snare drum and low strings give this sense of upcoming battle against their foes, the Slytherins. “The Quidditch Match”

r the Los Angeles Olympics in: 1984

This iconic sound of teamwork, heroes, and achievement has a very similar feel and goal to the opening of the Quidditch match. “The Quidditch Match” (0:25) The theme also returns at the end as the game concludes and Harry wins the game for Gryffindor before switching into Harry’s Wondrous World.

ic contains either the Nimbus: 2000

Not only is Harry introduced to places of Magic such as Diagon Alley or Hogwarts, flying on broomsticks or stairs that move, but he also sees a variety of magical creatures from Goblins to trolls, to a three-headed dog to dragons. It is as he, Ron, and Hermione try to get Hagrid information about the Sorcerer’s Stone who accidentally tells about Fluffy, the three-headed dog, where they witness a baby dragon hatch in Hagrid’s home. Since it is both cute and a little dangerous, the music is made up of fun quirky winds such as oboes, bass clarinet and bassoons with a few lower slides in the strings since the dragon does cough up a bit of fire to singe Hagrid’s beard not to mention that having a dragon is illegal. “The Norwegian Ridgeback” (0:25)

This is not the only creature that Harry will see in baby form as he witnesses Fawkes the Phoenix go up in flames and then reborn as a baby bird in the next film, the Chamber of Secrets. Fawkes has a theme throughout the film and it is a little slower as Harry first sees him old before he bursts into flame with the English Horn (which is a lower oboe), a flute, and French Horn play the gentle melody with celeste rolled chords. (1:30 - Fawkes is Reborn). Then the celeste and cellos play the melody as the Phoenix is reborn in the ashes, the celeste giving a magical quality to it. (Beginning)

Fawkes’ theme returns as the phoenix arrives to help Harry fight the Basilisk at the end of the movie, eventually blinding it as the theme appears more heroic in the horns and brass with the flutes flitting around to match the flying. “Dueling the Basilisk” (0:07)

The theme plays again when the bird’s tears heals Harry and then flies them out. The track “Fawkes the Phoenix” is a beautiful concert suite version of the theme, something that John Williams does for his many of his themes as well as a few of the other Harry Potter composers. It is a complete piece to be performed by orchestra but not heard in that specific way in the film.

Fawkes and the Basilisk are not the only creatures that Harry encounters in the 2nd film. The Basilisk as a giant snake, is feared by many including little spiders that run when it shows up. Every time they are seen, a repeated descending chromatic pattern is heard in the flutes. (Meeting Aragog 0:29) Part-way through, Harry and Ron follow these spiders to find the giant ancient spider in the forest named Aragog in order to help Hagrid accused of being responsible of harming and freezing the children instead of the monster in the castle. In contrast to the high flutes, the theme for arriving at Aragog’s lair is slow and low, representing something that is quite old and a little malevolent in the Forbidden forest. (0:40)

While Arogog may have proven to be less friendly before they are rescued by the flying car, he did give clues that one other creature would know information about the creature in the walls, which turns out to be the ghost Moaning Myrtle. She shows up several times over the course of the film in the girls bathroom, with a combination of comic and tragic both in the oboe and bassoon matching the comedy of her personality and the tragedy of how she died mixed with swirling female ghost voices as she flies away. (Moaning Myrtle 1:20)

through: 1700

However, it is in the third film and under a different director, that John Williams really begins to play with the sound of Renaissance instruments and give it both a quirkier and darker sound to match the tone of the movie. There is less celeste for the sound of magic and instead replaced by recorders, crumhorns and sackbuts. Even at the beginning, the crumhorn, which is the ancestor of the oboe, is used when Ron shows Harry pictures from their summer travels to Egypt while in the Leaky Cauldron. Recorders are used for Harry’s primary family theme “A window to the past” and Hagrid’s professor theme includes recorders, crumhorns and sackbuts which were predecessors of the trombone. Even Sirius and Peter Petigrew’s motifs are played in the harpsichord.

s, most likely written around: 1555

One thing that becomes important to this film is the use of diegetic music. Diegetic music is music that is part of the world, heard or even played by the characters within the movie but often used as accompaniment throughout the film as well. Hedwig’s Theme is a good example of this as it is played by Hagrid on the recorder in the first film.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, a new school song is the primary diegetic piece. The song was written not only for the film but also for the trailer, just the way Hedwig’s Theme began. This also helps to feature an other important aspect of British school life which is the school choir. As the film itself is a little darker, it takes a slightly more ominous sound, featuring words from the Witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”:

Double, double toil and trouble

Fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Double, double toil and trouble

Something wicked this way comes

Eye of newt, and toe of frog

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog

Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting

Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing

In the cauldron boil and bake

Fillet of a fenny snake

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf

Witches' mummy, maw and gulf

The full list of things thrown into the Witches pot creating a brew for Macbeth is more extensive than in this song but it is one of several ways that connects the old world of magic of Hogwarts with our older stories or instruments. It also seems appropriate to use instruments that would have been heard at the time of Shakespeare in a piece quoting his work. There is also a use of a tritone in the cello or viola da gamba underneath the first verse which was known as the devil’s interval in the Medieval Ages since it was so dissonant and between two perfect intervals, adding to that level of darkness of double toil and trouble. “Double Trouble”

The version of Double Trouble that was just played is the trailer version and like the track “Hogwarts Forever” it doesn’t appear in that full version in the movie. The song enters part-way through as the students arrive to school and then the school choir is singing it while holding frogs at the Main opening feast.

Like Hogwarts Forever, this school song is used for events throughout the castle itself. It plays in recorders and harpsichord as the students heads toward the Gryffindor common room, setting up the sounds of the school year. The Contrabassoon plays it after this as the camera pulls away looking at Hogwarts, seeing Dementors surround the castle; the contrast of instruments and context matching both the fun and the darker side of the song warning of trouble for the upcoming school year. “Secrets of the Castle 1:33

The song plays later in celeste and harp as Harry overhears Snape and Dumbledore talking about their concern that Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban, before anyone realizes that Sirius was in fact good and not a traitor. The track is aptly called “Secrets of the castle” especially keeping the words “something wicked this way comes” in mind. “Secrets of the castle” (0:12)

These theme of trouble with Sirius Black continues when the Gryffindor students arrive at their door to find the Fat Lady gone and a disturbance beginning to happen among the different portraits around them as they wait for Dumbledore to come and solve the problem. “The Portrait Gallery” (0:04)

As the search begins for the Lady and they find her hiding in a completely different picture all disheveled, declaring that Sirius Black attacked her door, the theme is played in the trumpets and a little more angular along with violin moving patterns as it appears that trouble has indeed arrived. “The Portrait Gallery” (1:05)

The theme also appears in a full orchestral version in the ending credits music, Mischief Managed.

Not only does this film have a new school song but it also introduces a new Quidditch theme, although in this case it is made of a motif or fragments. The melody is much more angular and with the intervals jumping around, as the motif is being passed around different instruments as the game plays. This one resembles more battle music and is less of a joyful fanfare which matches the tone of this game. The game is in the rain which changes the mood and the fact that Dementors are hovering around gives a greater sense of danger and unease. It is also a game that Harry and Gryffindor loses. (“Quidditch Match, Third Year 0:33, 2:03)

The Dementors, while supposedly there for protection in looking for the criminal Sirius Black, also brought a lot of darkness to Hogwarts, reflected with dissonance in the orchestra. Their music fits completely in the horror genre with sliding high violins, dissonance in the brass and providing a great sense of unease as is heard the first time they appear on the train to Hogwarts and begin to suck out Harry’s soul. “Apparition on the Train” (1:06)

In contrast, they are defeated or stopped with a patronus which is light, usually heard through tonal choir, an example of how choir can reflect light and beauty. This is heard from Professor Lupin saving Harry in the train to Lupin teaching Harry how to do the Patronus charm to protect himself. “The Patronus Light”

One interesting thing in this story is seeing the same scene from two different prospectives due to the time turner. Because of this, the music itself is also slightly different. The first is heard when Harry and Sirius are being attacked by Dementors with both orchestral and choral dissonance as their souls are being sucked away and Sirius is dying. While the patronus light saves them, there is still dissonance as the dementors flee and the French Horn plays a bit of Harry’s family theme with Harry believing that somehow his Father had saved him. “Dementors Converge” (1:45)

Dumbledore suggest to Hermione and Harry to use the time turner to go back and fix things, including being able to save Sirius from being taken back to Azkaban wrongly accused. This includes some fun moments of ticking clocks, chimes, and the impression that music is being rewinded with repeated patterns and lots of glissandos as chaos ensues over each other in numerous instruments, at different speeds. Combined with seeing all the people move around them as if rewinding a tape and then going through the cogs of a clock as they run to Hagrid’s is a brilliant way of both seeing and hearing going back through time. “Forward to Time Past” (0:04)

This leads them arriving to the same moment with Sirius and Harry being attacked by Dementors, Harry so convinced that his Dad had sent the Patronus that he keeps waiting for him to show up. The choir makes it sound as if everyone is singing their own tune or note at the same time to create a cacophony of sound as the dementors begin to suck away both Sirius and Harry’s soul. However, this time it becomes clear that it is Harry himself who sends the Patronus light away to save them, so as the choir sings, the voices pulse with the visual of the light pulsing, along with Harry’s family theme again playing in the French Horns as he saves himself and his godfather, who is his remaining family. (Finale 0:40)

While much of film 3 is about light vs darkness, there are still quite a few fun and zanny times to be explored and some of those are expressed through jazz for the first time. Some of John Williams’ earliest jobs were as a jazz pianist and he was the son of a jazz percussionist so jazz is definitely part of his musical DNA. The wildest expression of this is when Harry goes on to the Knight Bus, running away from home after accidentally inflating Aunt Marge. Not only is there some fun but slightly manic jazz, it also slows down with an accordion as the bus is squeezed between different vehicles on the journey as well as having a whistle for being a bus going to busy London. (0:35)

While not on the soundtrack, Big Band music is used as the students try using the “ridiculi” spell with boggarts as they confront their fears by imagining something ridiculous instead. This also fits since it is a class taught by professor Lupin, who also listens to jazz in his office in the background.

eving Magpie” Overture from: 1817

Speaking of floating away, this film also includes one of the many great flying themes that John Williams has written over the years. This is a wonderful example including the high violins, flitting flutes, and often trumpet that helps to give a sense of soaring either in flying or being in love or in the case of Superman or How To Train a Dragon by John Powell, there is both. There is also usually movement from the brass or low strings underneath the melody to keep the momentum going plus a few harp glissandos. In this film, it occurs when Harry rides Buckbeak the hippogriff, at first rather unexpectedly taking off in class at Hagrid’s encouragement, with timpani and other drums being the surprise of taking off. “Buckbeak’s flight”

This glorious flight is an excellent way to end the first part with John Williams and his music to create the magical World around Harry Potter, including school music for Hogwarts, flying, Quidditch, and a variety of creatures. The second part will focus on the other 3 composers, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hopper and Alexander Desplat as they continue to both follow in his footsteps while creating new sounds and making their own musical choices to help further tell the story of Harry Potter.

You can join in on discussing all the musical moments regarding your favorite John Williams theme within the Harry Potter films in the Facebook group “World of Soundtracks” or on Twitter and Instagram at WoSoundtracks. Please like and subscribe, share with friends, or even leave a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon. I highly recommend subscribing so you don’t miss when the next episode comes out.

Until next time, Happy Listening!

A special thanks to all those involved to make this podcast happen especially Edith Mudge for the title music and Lindsey Bergmsa for the graphics. This is World of Soundtracks.