Below are a few items from the new movie
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Soundtrack
Amazon.com Review:
You needn't see the film of Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone to appreciate the wonder, magic, and fearful chills
of J.K. Rowling's phenomenal bestseller in John Williams's outstanding
score. Williams typically avoids the source material for the films he
scores, but he reportedly derived great pleasure and inspiration from
Rowling's first Harry Potter adventure, and created a perfect motif
(fully expressed in "Hedwig's Theme") to dominate his score. It's
first heard as a dreamy celesta waltz and embellished through myriad
incarnations and moods, often with a sinister edge befitting the
darker tones of Chris Columbus's direction. Evident are fantastical
allusions to Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky (among others), and
Williams's epic track is "Quidditch Match," a breathtaking frenzy to
accompany the film's dazzling highlight. And while Williams
occasionally flirts with self-plagiarism (with inevitable variants of
his Hook and Star Wars themes), this is nevertheless a richly regal
score that brilliantly evokes the mystery and magic of Harry Potter's
world. --Jeff Shannon
