Mike Reitz

Mod 8 Research Paper Final Submission

It has been said that Harry Potter is the story that changed the world (McIntyre). Two

and half decades after the release of the first novel the fantasy juggernaut is still impacting the

lives of everyone from young to elderly. The first novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,

was released in 1997 and it did not take long for it to become a beloved work of art (McIntyre).

The original book series consisted of seven fantasy novels written by British author J.K.

Rowling. These seven novels have evolved into their own universe consisting of sequels,

prequels, plays, movies, and hundreds of pieces of fanfiction. The Harry Potter fan base quickly

grew once the first book was adapted for film in 2001 (McIntyre). Along with the novel being

adapted to film came the musical score. Imagine for a moment being a huge fan and sitting in a

movie theater and hearing the magical sounds of John William’s prologue and instantly being

transported into the world you have read about. Over recent years movies scores, musical

themes, or leitmotifs, have increasingly become associated with specific characters, objects, or

ideas in the film, this technique was derived from the musical dramas of Richard Wagner

(Kamien 518).

Over the course of the last few decades, music in film has become increasingly important.

John Williams, one of the most popular American composers of film music, has worked on many

iconic films such as; Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones (Audissino).

Williams was born in 1932 in New Yok City and started his first piano lessons at the age of eight

(Audissino). As a young man he attended the University of California at Los Angeles before

being drafted and attended Julliard. Once drafted he became an arranger for the air force band.

John William has won many awards over the course of his career including twenty-two
Grammys, five Academy Awards and Fifty Oscar nominations. The first Oscar he was awarded

was for his work on Fidler on the Roof and the second was for Jaws (Audissino). He has also

been nominated and awarded a plethora of awards for his work in the Harry Potter film franchise

(IMDB). It is common practice soundtracks of films to differ from what moviegoers hear during

a viewing of the film. This is done so the score can be rearranged and modified to better

facilitate the experience of the music separate from the visual components of the film. In the

case of the Prologue to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone the original prologue heard during

the film is titled Hedwig’s Theme however, on the soundtrack it is combined with the Nimbus

2000 theme, creating one piece of music lasting five minutes and nine seconds (Kamien 519).

The opening scene of the first film for which the prologue was created helps to set the magical

tone of the rest of not only the first film, but all the Harry Potter films to follow, and was

reinforced by being heard throughout all eight movies (Kamien 519).

While many people believe the prologue intended to refer to Hedwig, Harry Potter’s owl

in the series, it represents much more than that. The leitmotif or short musical idea associated

with a person, object or thought (Kamien 352), is focusing on the idea of magic and the

wizarding world the J.K. Rowling has created. Williams uses varying instruments, dynamics,

tone colors, pitch, rhythm, meter, tempo, melody, and texture to help the audience understand the

feelings he is trying to express. When the music first starts you can hear the bell-like tones of a

celesta and synthesized celesta tone colors presenting the melody, which immediately begins to

evoke the light, happy, magical, otherworldly feeling that is experienced during listening. As the

song progresses the melody is repeated with upper string voices and lastly woodwinds and horns

are added. Williams continues to build on this feeling by using glissandos, or a rapid slide up or

down a scale, to produce soft rushing notes. The dynamics, degree of loudness or softness in
music, that Williams uses throughout the piece varies starting out pianissimo, meaning very soft

and expressed by the abbreviation pp, then, using crescendos, it transitions to mezzo forte,

meaning moderately loud and expressed mf (Kamien 6) (Matz 1). Tone color or timbre, the

quality of sound that distinguishes one instrument or voice from another, would be described as

bright and brilliant. By Williams using this timbre he is reinforcing the light, magical, other

worldly feeling that he is expressing to the audience (Kamien 6). Adding yet another layer to the

music Williams employs the use of pitch and tonality. Pitch is the relative highness or lowness

of a sounds while tonality is the central note, scale, and chord within a piece (Kamien 50). When

referring to tonality or key, the major and minor scale are what is being referred to. The major

scale is a series of seven tones within an octave plus an eighth tone repeating the first tone an

octave higher with a characteristic whole step between the second and third tones (Kamien 570).

The minor scale is also a series of seven tones within an octave plus an eighth tone repeating the

first tone an octave higher, however the minor scale has a characteristic half step between the

second and third tones (Kamien 570). The tonality this piece is played in is minor key with

Williams varying the pitch each time the melody is repeated. Along with these dynamics, timbre

and pitch Williams uses a dotted rhythm and triple meter. Rhythm refers to ordered durations of

sounds and silences, with a dotted rhythm being, long-short rhythmic pattern in which a dotted

note is followed by a much shorter note (Kamien 30). Meter is the organization of beats into

regular groups with a triple meter being three beats per measure (Kamien 33). Tempo another

important aspect to music is the basic pace of music (Kamien 34). At the beginning of the

Prologue to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the tempo is consistently moderato or

moderate through the use of accelerando, meaning becoming faster, the piece progresses to

allegretto or moderately fast (Matz 1). This transition is only noticeable in the soundtrack
version of the prologue where Hedwig’s Theme transitions to the Nimbus 2000 Theme.

Additionally form, or the organization of musical elements in time, is used to help the listener

feel a sense of completion when listening to a piece. This prologue is in binary form meaning it

consists of two parts A and B. Part A in binary form starts in the home or tonic key and part B

ends in the that same tonic key brining it full circle allowing the listener to feel like the piece is

complete (Kamien 59).

In conclusion, John Williams has been one of the most influential American composers

of film music in history. His use of dynamics, timbre, pitch, rhythm, meter, tempo and form have

all aided him in creating many iconic film scores including the Prologue to Harry Potter and the

Sorcerer’s Stone. Without mastering all these components of music Williams would not have

been able to compose music for over one-hundred films or be nominated for more Oscars than

any other living composer (Kamien 518). The music that Williams has created for the Harry

Potter films has touched millions of lives and is instantly recognizable stirring the feeling of

magic and happiness that he expressed throughout the score. The work of John Williams has

helped to accelerate the importance of music in film.

 Works Cited

Audissino, Emilio. John Williams's Film Music: Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and

the Return of the Classical Hollywood Music Style. The University of Wisconsin Press,

2014.

“John Williams.” IMDb, IMDb.com, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002354/awards.

Kamien, Roger, and Anita Kamien. Music: An Appreciation. McGraw Hill, 2022.

Matz, Carol. Harry Potter HP 1-8 Big Note Piano. Alfred Publishing Co.(Uk)Ltd, 2012.

McIntyre, Gina. “Harry Potter: The Story That Changed the World.” LIFE, 18 Mar. 2022,

https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/harry-potter-the-story-that-changed-the-world/.