Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

Harry Potter has entered adult world. Books, films and the scores all lead into a magical world where a boy becomes a man. This means that the wonderful childish quality and lighthearted innocence of The Sorcerer's Stone is now long gone. With another director (Mike Newell) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire takes another turn in events, and no longer onboard is John Williams, the composer who brought forward all the themes of the first 3 films. Why John Williams hasn't been chosen is unsure, but I'm willing it has to do more with the fact Mike Newell worked before with Patrick Doyle on Into the West and Donnie Brasco then the fact John Williams was unavailable, even though he had a rather busy year too. Still with Doyle, we have another craftsman onboard because he has proven himself time and again to bring wonderful magical moments in all categories of movie composition. With Harry Potter he can now just bring it on the highest possible level of movie making. The question was now only, how much would Doyle use of Williams' themes, the Hedwig theme will remain a necessity for whichever composer joins the box-office continuation of Harry Potter in the future, but what about the danger theme used in the first 2 movies, and what about the numerous themes Doyle has in store for this movie? I can say Williams' Hedwig's theme will not kill you in its overplaying because Doyle used it as little as possible (at least on disc here), and frankly the 2 versions cover a different sound to them, they no longer feel as Williams themes, perhaps a compliment to Doyle himself for putting his own voice into the theme. They appear in tracks 1 and 5 and yet it takes quite a long time to get the kick out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, longer then I expected. 'The Story Continues' begins with strings and ominous brass, before the alternate version of Hedwig's theme is heard, sounding quite different then the light childish theme of the first scores.

With 'Frank Dies' things don't improve, sinister strings and an uneasy mood, its quite emotionless and unmoving. 'The Quidditch World Cup' and 'The Dark Mark' we get however more Doyle color, the first introduces a brief never to return Celtic influence and the choral / percussion led teaser music, which is effective and its one of the few choral accompanied moments we'll hear, which is strange too, while the other track has at least for the first minute true Doyle magic, with racing strings and rhythmic brass its back to basics and a return to his excellent action music from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and more. 'Foreign Visitors Arrive' has the Hedwig's theme for the last time and an uplifting brass statement while 'The Goblet of Fire' is first eerie before a more noble moment is heard, however nothing really erupts in either magical or fantastical territory. And then either comical light tinkling music is heard, 'Rita Skeeter' with a kind like Secondhand Lions theme and 'Harry sees Dragons' then erupts nothing magical at all, it was really frustrating to pinpoint that either the tracks were too short and simply not containing the grandeur I expected, wanted and got. And then you get 'Golden Egg'. If the first blaze of brass doesn't blow you away, then its the heroic big theme of the score with Doyle strings attached to it that heighten the heroic level more then the weak first 9 tracks ever did. Finally this score was going somewhere, or it has to be some classical inspired music with 'Neville's Waltz' and 'Potter Waltz' (with the second being a close cousin to a replica moment in A Little Princess), or it becomes sweet like enchanting in 'Harry in Winter' where a wonderful heroic theme is made into a sweet like string movement. Or it is lightly comical with 'Hogwarts' March' proving this theme can also work as a marching sole trumpet dance. Don't know what 'Underwater Secrets' supports exactly of scenery but I expected something far dangerous then the sweet lullaby sung by Doyle's daughter.

Again Doyle shows how good he then is with real epic action and heroism, in 'The Black Lake' the heroic blazing grandeur again is unleashed, with lots of wonderful moments where each moment covers a heroic swelling or an epic fanfare. In 'The Maze' its more darker and dangerous, however Doyle takes the large baton again in his hand and unleashes strong fanfares in ominous thick brass. It seems Lord Voldermort receives too a theme and its especially noticed in the last tracks and naturally 'Voldermort', and its this mammoth dark piece that somewhat stays in the lesser regions of the track's pleasing factor, its still full of blazing moments or quiet eerie discoveries, it however never resolves into a finish. However its conclusion is still nice with the theme and added piano creating a magical Potter finish. And of course its always nice to have spoilers because who hasn't seen the movie yet? Well I have and 'Death of Cedric' brings luckily for the (musical) moment a bit more emotion then the second track on the disc, and its in fact Carlito's Way like string emotion. With 'Another year Ends' and especially 'Hogwarts' Hymn' things close off, and its the final track that does it in style, if you grow into it you'll like the finish very much, it and its brass finish. Frankly here is where the CD should end, yet sadly it doesn't. In the pre production of the movie, there were rumors a certain Jarvis Cocker would compose the score of the film, yet luckily it remained just with several songs. Yet sadly for us, even that he couldn't accomplish in style because his 3 representations are absolute rubbish. I mean the last one is audible but the other 2 are utter crap, and above all, it doesn't fit with the (musical) world of Harry Potter one bit. So if you want a happy memory at the end, then end at track 21. Seriously, Doyle's score is truthfully a warming up soundtrack. It takes a bit of time to get into the musical fantasy of his composition and above all accept the fact its completely different from John Williams' music, its indeed a tough nut. But with time and patience, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire becomes the score more or less I wished it to be. In the blazing heroics, Doyle brings more out of the music then Williams' did, however in the fantasy genre Williams' moments still excel. If you ever combine the 2, its wizardry.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. The Story Continues + (1.29)

2. Frank Dies (2.09)

3. The Quidditch World Cup (1.51)

4. The Dark Mark (3.26)

5. Foreign Visitors Arrive + (1.29)

6. The Goblet Of Fire (3.21)

7. Rita Skeeter (1.41)

8. Sirius Fire (1.59)

9. Harry Sees Dragons (1.53)

10. Golden Egg (6.10) Excellent Track

11. Neville's Waltz (2.08)

12. Harry In Winter (2.54) Excellent Track

13. Potter Waltz (2.18)

14. Underwater Secrets (2.26)

15. The Black Lake (4.36) Excellent Track

16. Hogwarts' March (2.43)

17. The Maze (4.39) Excellent Track

18. Voldermort (9.37)

19. Death Of Cedric (1.56)

20. Another Year Ends (2.18)

21. Hogwarts' Hymn (2.56) Excellent Track

22. Do The Hippogriff: Jarvis Cocker * (3.36)

23. This Is The Night: Jarvis Cocker ** (3.22)

24. Magic Works: Jarvis Cocker ** (4.01)

* Written by Jarvis Cocker & Jason Bucke

** Written by Jarvis Cocker

+ Featuring Hedwig's Theme, written by John Williams

Total Length: 75.57

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Patrick Doyle ===