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Composing Masterclass: A look at John Williams' life and career
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Adventure, mystery, and magic all go hand-in-hand when it comes to the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling. The books were adapted into films starting in 2001. The first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, was directed by Chris Columbus. The story of Harry Potter is magical as is however; the movie needed a little extra magic. This extra magic needed to be added through music. Director Chris Columbus chose John Williams to compose the music for a promotional reel (John Williams). After Columbus heard the song for the promotional reel he knew they had to have Williams compose the entire movie (John Williams). Williams created an entire score for the movie and called it “The Harry Potter Suite.” “The Harry Potter Suite” has a song for each important event that happened throughout the film. John Williams adds magic and tells the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone through his composed music.
The film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, opens up with a grand tune. It is called “Harry’s Wondrous World.” The song is played by a full orchestra. It is a song that sounds magical, majestic, and extremely impressive. The songs purpose is to not only excited the audience for what is too happened in the movie, but it also gives some foreshadowing into the tone and events of the movie. Composer John Williams created this song to tell the entire story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. In an interview, John Williams stated that multiple songs from the entire score got put together in order to make “Harry’s Wondrous World” (The Harry Potter Suite). “Harry’s Wondrous World” succeeds at adding magic and majesty to the opening sequence of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
The story begins with Harry ...
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...ng the Quidditch match the music is celebratory and joyful. “Fluffy’s Harp” was a song played with a harp and a contrabassoon. The contrabassoon mimicked Fluffy the three-headed dog and the harp continuously played a lullaby. “Hedwig’s theme” was a song written for Hedwig, Harry’s owl. The song is light and airy. John Williams adds magic and tells the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone through his composed music.
Works Cited
Seiler, Andy. “Williams adds musical magic to 'Harry Potter.’” USA Today. Gannett Co. Inc., 31 Nov. 2001. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.
“John Williams- Harry Potter Interview” YouTube. YouTube. 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.
“The Harry Potter Suite by John Williams and the Boston Pops.” YouTube. YouTube. 05 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Nov. 2013.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Dir. Chris Columbus. 2001. Warner Brothers, 2001. DVD.
In the film the music is very important. At the beginning it is set at
Music plays a major part. Whether its something like making someone happy or sad, it brings that sense of emotion. A movie without music would be boring and dull. It takes the boring and dullness away with a music of suspense or terrorizing. Music has its value in the movie. In the scene where Ron is telling his wife of all his investigation, the music begins slowly when he begins saying, " If I hadn't been out that day, I could have easily gotten myself and everyone else in that room killed." Then, the music gradually increases as he continues to tell his tale. The music is soft and heartfelt. It could also bring anyone to tears because of the emotion set from the music. Later on in the movie, the last scene of where they are at church, Ron walks over to a room where all the children in the elementary school were singing. They were singing a known song for children in the LDS church. The song is titled " A Child's Prayer". Its played at the end and leaves a powerful message. The music grows and swells and orchestral music from the same song continues the
In fact, this is the first time that an English male solo artist performed the 24th film series installment after Tom Jones’ “Thunderball” in 1965.
The second piece comes from George Gershwins "Cuban Overture" performed by the pianist Ivan Davis and the Cleveland Orchestra. This song is a mix of Cuban rhythms with George Gershwin's own thematic material. The result of this is a symphonic overture with cuban beats. The next song is a suite from Girl Crazy, great song, i can even imagine the dance sequences in my head through this piece. All the rest of the songs on this cd, are taken out of Gershwin's musicals.
One of the most prominent examples of program music is Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Quixote. This tone poem tells the story of Miguel de Cevantes Saavedra’s novel The Adventures of Don Quixote. The story of the hero Don Quixote is one of insanity and delusion that Strauss was able to depict very well. Don Quixote was a middle aged man that read too many books about knights and their heroic deeds. This is shown by three different themes given to show Don’s dreams of being a knight. Over time, he read so many books and dreamt of rescuing his ideal woman named Dulcinea from a dragon so many times that his mind was unable to separate his real life from his fantasy world. Strauss chose to depict Dulcinea with a beautiful lyrical melody while the dragon is represented by a loud, low, sustained melody in the tenor and bass tubas. Don’s victory over the dragon is shown by a victory flourish in the flute and oboe. After this melding of his mind occurs, he believes that he is really the knight Don Quixote de la Mancea. From here, he and his side kick Sancho Panza set out into the world to do chivalrous deeds. From here on out, Don is represented by a solo cello voice. When ...
the film, and talks to the director about what sort of music (styles, themes, etc.) should be used — this process is called "spotting.". The director might even have a “temp score”(a score of pieced ol...
John Williams once states, “So much of what we do is ephemeral and quickly forgotten, even by ourselves, so it’s gratifying to have something you have done linger in people’s memories.” John Williams is an incredibly talented composer, scoring the music for over hundred famous films. Some films he has composed the music for include: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Home Alone, several Harry Potter movies, and many, many more. Williams has left a legacy for himself that will not soon be forgotten. John Williams has lead a very interesting life. While many will argue, some of Williams best work is in the movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars.
Wharram, Barbara. Elementary Rudiments of Music. Ed. Kathleen Wood. 2nd ed. Mississauga, Ont.: Frederick Harris Music, 2010. Print.
Music is an important element of any theatrical work. It sets up the setting, mood, and emotions for the audience. Different songs can tell stories whether sad or happy. In “As You Like It” by William Shakespeare, there are many scenes where the traditional play music can be replaced with modern contemporary and still give the story the same meaning. There are songs that describe the blossoming romance and friendship of Rosalind and Orlando and the theme of reality. And there are others that set up the mood for the setting. The songs that can replace the traditional songs successfully are Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” and “You Belong With Me” and “Spring Waltz by Yiruma. Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” relates to and focuses on the scene in Act One where Rosalind and Orlando begin to fall in love for the first time. Here, we are able to utilize this song and get a different feeling for the scene with a modern perspective.
Britten, Benjamin and Imogen Holst. The Wonderful World of Music. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1958. Print
The first musical component I will talk about is the vocals heard in the song. In the beginning of this song, a rising sun is being shown on the image track. To give us hints as to where this is taking place, a form of verbal chanting is played in the beginning. This chanting has a tribal feeling to it, which tells us that we are looking at some rural area rather than a metropolitan area. This depicts to the audience the setting for the rest of the song along with the rest of the movie. The chanting is also in a call and response pattern, which can be heard when the other group of voices responds to the one voice. As the song progresses, an African choir can be heard, and when they ...
Harry Potter is an orphaned boy whose parents were attacked and killed by the evil wizard, Lord Voldemort. The boy survived the horrible slaying, which left him with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He lives with his disagreeable uncle and aunt and unpleasantly selfish cousin during summer months. The boy attends the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he learns about potions, flying on a broomstick, and fighting off the evil Lord Voldemort.
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 May 2014. Stanley, Jay.
I was in Group Four for the Antigone short play we performed in class. Through