All crazy about Harry Potter! Two months ago the most famous wizard in the history of cinema turned 20 years old. It was November 16, 2001 when Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone debuted in cinemas around the world, kicking off a saga that knows no boundaries and that has marked an entire generation. And just to celebrate the twentieth anniversary, on January 1st, the long-awaited reunion entitled ‘Harry Potter 20th anniversary: return to Hogwarts’ has been released on the American network of HBOMax. A real tv event in which there are interviews, videos from the set, background and gossip about the adventures of the famous wizard. If the magic of Harry Potter will not fade, it is certainly thanks to its soundtrack, which has become one of the most iconic in the history of cinema, so as to be compared to past classics such as Gone with the Wind and Psycho. The 8 films that make up the series are accompanied by 4 main songs. The most famous is undoubtedly Hedwig’s Theme (which reappears at the beginning of each film), composed by John Williams. Williams, one of the most famous film soundtrack composers, has composed the soundtrack for three episodes of the saga (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) but also the Oscar-winning soundtrack for “Star Wars” as well as the music for the films “Jaws”, “Indiana Jones”, “ET “, “Jurassic Park” and “Schindler’s List”.
But what makes Hedwig’s melody unique?Composed in E minor, a familiar key from which it never strays too far, it is very catchy. In fact, the melody follows a steady pulse that it wraps around like a somewhat playful waltz.
Thanks to the use of the glockenspiel, a sort of metal xylophone protagonist of different and extraordinary compositions such as Mozart’s Magic Flute or Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing, it expresses original and mysterious sounds.
The result is characterized by two different moods: darkness and playfulness. It is slow but suspenseful, calm but evocative.
Let’s listen to Hedwig’s Theme.
Here you can buy the track.
Here is the video of the live performance of the Film Symphony Orchestra.
