While John Williams set the stage and created the iconic themes for Harry Potter, each subsequent composer added to the breadth and depth of the musical world. Patrick Doyle added more Celtic flair with the Irish Quidditch team as well as creating music for all the schools, the dances, as well as dragons. Nicholas Hooper was the first to write music for the Ministry of Magic, the Order of the Phoenix, and continued with folk and Celtic tunes especially for the Weasley twins. Alexandre Desplat had the darker films with the last two, visiting familiar places like Gringott's Bank and the Ministry of Magic while also adding Middle Eastern instruments for the Elder Wand and older lore. This episode explores how each composer both reestablished familiarity from the sounds of John Williams but also created their own voice for this world.

There are so many musical tracks for the world of Harry Potter that even though I had covered relationships, Hedwig's Theme, and characters in previous podcasts, there were still so many more that set the world of Harry Potter. Since John Williams composed music for the first three movies, he set the world with an orchestral sound, using choir and celeste to accentuate the magical aspect. But he wasn't content to leave it there, using older Renaissance instruments and Celtic music to give it a grounding in Old England, suggesting that this magical world had been around for a long time. Add a little bit of jazz in the 3rd film and there is so much to explore in the world that John Williams created for Harry Potter.

John Williams did an excellent job in setting the tone in the first 3 movies of Harry Potter. Between "Hedwig's Theme" and "Harry's Wondrous World," he created themes that tell Harry's story of relationships and family. He also created fun, quirky themes for characters such as Professor Lockhart and Dobby. This idea is continued with the other composers from Professor Umbridge to Mr Lovegood throughout the other 4 films. On the other hand, while Harry has a specific theme carried throughout, Voldemort does not. John Williams wrote two or three motifs as he is still fragmented and not whole in the beginning. The other composers then created their own themes and motifs for Voldemort and the Death Eaters. This episode focuses on these stand-alone themes for characters that tell you about their personality but does not often carry through to other films. I started with villains because it's always nicer to end on a quirky note instead of a dark one!

Over the course of Harry's growing up years and 8 films, Harry makes friends and makes a new family after years of being an orphan with less than desirable relatives. He also loses friends and family as the years go darker and fighting Voldemort and his Death Eaters. While very few themes carry throughout all 8 films, there are several that carry through a few such Harry's Wondrous World by John Williams. This rather long episode covers themes with his best friends Hermione and Ron, falling in love with Cho and then Ginny, dealing with the loss of his parents, and then later the loss of beloved mentors and friends. It is a journey of joy and deep grief as I look at all the different music by John Williams, Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper, and Alexandre Desplat that take us along that emotional ride over the years.

Hedwig's Theme has become synonymous with Harry Potter and the world. All kids want to play it, everyone associates the celeste with Harry Potter instead of the Nutcracker, and the theme is used in every movie and theme park. This episode focuses on the journey of this theme from its creation by John Williams for the original trailer, to telling the story of Harry Potter in 8 films and through 4 composers.

Last fall, I had the honor and privilege of talking with TV composer Sherri Chung. We talked about the beginning of her composing journey to mentors to collaboration. Along the way, we also talked about several of her projects including the animated series "Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai" which has since released part of their second season. Being my first interview, I certainly learned a lot and had a great time talking to Sherri. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did!

When I started giving lectures about Jane Austen soundtracks, this Netflix version of Persuasion was still in the works. After stating that the previous two adaptations were missing what I wanted in the music (themes for characters, romantic expressions in the music), I was looking forward to seeing this version. Musically, Stuart Earl delivered what I wanted. Soaring romantic music, as well as funny, quirky themes for characters such as Mr. Elliott and everything in-between. It also decided to move into the romantic comedy genre like Emma as well as breaking the 4th wall like the 2007 Persuasion or the 1999 Mansfield Park. In the process, they changed the character of Anne which makes this version a lot harder to love as a huge book fan. One day, maybe I will get my favorite characters from the book as well as wonderful memorable music!

The ITV/Masteripiece TV movie of Persuasion came out in 2007 in the UK and 2008 in the US as part of a Jane Austen trio along with Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park, each one being 90 minutes. The challenge was adapting this down to size and choosing to focus on the main protagonists and their feelings, particular Anne as she shares her feelings to the audience through journal writing and looking into the camera. The composer, Martin Phipps, is known for several other period dramas including Sense and Sensibility that came out in the same year. He prefers a more modern and minimalistic approach to music, echoing the feelings of characters instead of trying to set it in the Regency era. That being said, he still focuses on using the piano and a smaller group of string instruments as the primary accompaniment, like many other Austen adaptations. Since the music is not available, I tried to record several bits myself as a musical reference throughout this episode. 

Persuasion has been my favorite Jane Austen novel since I was a teenager. I love the story, the main characters, and Jane Austen's wit in her writing especially in regards to Anne's family. It is, however, a tricky one to adapt which means that I am never completely satisfied with any of the adaptations. The movie of 1995 is characterized with staying true to the novel but relying mostly on solo piano matching the quiet, introverted nature of the heroine. While some of the music is written by composer Jeremy Sams, much of the music depends on classical music by Chopin and J.S. Bach. Since there is no soundtrack available, there is a great focus on the classical music with a little bit of Sams.

This is where we start to get into some more controversial adaptations of Jane Austen (not counting who is the best Mr. Darcy). The 1999 movie of Mansfield Park combines Jane Austen's own juvenilia into Fanny Price's character and voice to help provide some of the wit and humor within the writing but also changing the character. The music, written by Lesley Barber, alternates between hints of the Baroque (old-fashioned) and minimalism, a current trend in soundtracks. In combining the old and the new, it reflects the story being told in a slightly more harsh way than previous adaptations, using unusual instruments for a specific point while still having a few key elements such as the use of the harp for Mary in play.