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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince |  | Artist: Nicholas Hooper Label: Watertower Music Category: Music
List Price: $15.98 Buy New: $9.39 as of 9/8/2010 01:33 EDT details You Save: $6.59 (41%)
New (14) Used (9) from $8.49
Seller: moviemars-cds Rating: 40 reviews Sales Rank: 3284
Format: Soundtrack Media: Audio CD Discs: 1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3 Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 794043915222 UPC: 794043915222 EAN: 0794043915222 ASIN: B0028EQMW6
Release Date: July 14, 2009 Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description The sixth installment in the film franchise. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same. The score features music by Nicholas Hooper, who took the reigns as composer during the last film, "Order Of The Phoenix".
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
Great background music for whatever you are doing! August 6, 2010 Avid reader (United States) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This album is great. It has over 50 minutes of music and 26 song titles. It is annoying that the song names and samples are not listed on this amazon page. Here are the song titles for those that are interested.
Opening 2:54
In Noctem 2:01
The Story Begins 2:05
Ginny 1:31
Snape & the Unbreakable Vow 2:51
Wizard Wheezes 1:43
Dumbledore's Speech 1:32
Living Death 1:55
Into the Pensieve 1:46
The Book 1:44
Ron's Victory 1:45
Harry & Hermoine 2:53
School! 1:05
Malfoy's Mission 2:53
The Slug Party 2:11
Into the Rushes 2:33
Farewell Aragog 2:08
Dumbledore's Foreboding 1:19
Of Love & War 1:18
When Ginny Kissed Harry 2:38
Slughorn's Confession 3:33
Journey To the Cave 3:08
The Drink of Despair 2:44
Inferi In the Firestorm 1:53
The Killing of Dumbledore 3:35
Dumbledore's Farewell 2:22
Strangely Moving and Beautiful Score July 17, 2010 M. Secaur (Phoenix, AZ) Well, Nicholas Hooper has done it again. When he came on after picking up the reins from John Williams and Patrick Doyle, I was initially apprehensive of the direction the Potter scores would take, but after hearing his score for "Order of the Phoenix", I began to see the merits this composer has. "Half-Blood Prince" is no different, and cements him in place as one of my most beloved composers. While his magic is of a different flavor than Williams or Doyle, it's still magic, and thankfully for us fans, still Harry Potter.
To me, music is always king in a film. It is the first thing I notice when I watch a movie for the first time, and I expect it to lead me through the film just as much as the visuals themselves. It usually ends up taking more of a front seat than the action on screen, and if it isn't right, the whole movie just feels ruined. But not with this score.
Hooper's music in few words is atmospheric, simple, and highly emotional. The songs are less complex but are beautiful just the same. They reflect a more realistic and less fantastic Wizarding World than the previous installments have, but don't dive into the arena of being too "modern" sounding. It is still very much a classical work, and because of the highly emotional nature of the film itself, his overall style suits the subject to a T.
Hooper opts to evoke more emotion through his pieces rather than simply inserting musical themes to fill up space. There are less moments of explosive action than there are explosive emotion. There is also an element of darkness and foreboding that pervades each track, moreso than any for the previous films, which coincides with each movie getting sucessively darker as time progresses. That said, I find that it is not opressive. Hooper manages to balance things out with lighter pieces while making the darker ones less disturbing than some of his own in OOTP. He builds tension and creates action with glorious string sections, and lets even the most heart-pounding pieces close gently, giving you time to take a breath and prepare yourself for the next one.
There might be subtlety of score and sparseness of notes, but there is certainly no skimping or shrouding of emotion. You'll probably moved to tears more than a few times, but overall really enjoy this great work of art that goes along with the latest installment from the Potter franchise. From the beginning tremors of "Opening" to the closing chords of "Weasley Stomp", the whole score is a tremendous journey of beauty and tendernessness, sadness and heartbreak, tension and anticipation, emptiness and loss, and, despite all this, an optimistic outlook for the future. It reminded me quite a lot of John William's score for "Prisoner of Azkaban". Oddly enough, Hooper's score feels more Williams-reminiscent than Williams's own work. To this day, I still can't tell that Williams had much of a hand in the music for the third film.
While I love the previous composer's works for the other four films, I find that this CD is much easier to listen to for simply the reason that it is much simpler and less bombastic. There aren't quite so many blaring horns or whimsical marimbas to jarr you out of the moment. Rather, through the expressive use of flutes, violins, harps, and choirs, you only move deeper into the story, and are soon totally immersed in the world itself. Hooper's pieces really fit together as a real score, and are made better when listened to together. There isn't a definitive end to each track; they just sort of flow into each other. I suppose it keeps it moving and helps the continuity (I say continuity because for some reason, his marvelous score for "Order of the Phoenix" was arranged totally out of order in the CD. What was that about?).
As a listener of many film scores, this one by far posesses the most varied soundscape I have ever heard. It ranges in tone and emotion from latin chants, big band ditties, jazz waltzes, rousing Scotch step-dancing themes on fiddles, heart-tugging funeral dirges, romantic ballads, and exciting and stirring action themes.
I really like the re-introduction of "Hedwig's Theme" into the track "Ginny"; ever since the third film, it's felt like something has been missing from the movies. Thank you Mr. Hooper! His jazzy riff in "Wizard Wheezes" is a welcome tension-reducer, and the ebullient bounce of "Living Death" (The title is a minomer) is reminiscent of his work on "Order of the Phoenix".
"Ron's Victory" heralds a well-anticipated return of Quidditch and excites as much as it envigorates.
"Harry and Hermione" has to be one of my favorite tracks in this disc. Sweet and melancholy at the same time, it reminds me of one of my favorite moments from the film, a quiet but sad moment between the two characters. I always feel a little teary-eyed when I hear it.
The violin solo on "Farewell Aragog" is almost Celtic in theme, and is also another of my favorites.
The gentle strum of guitars and romantic sweep of strings on "When Ginny Kissed Harry" is also very nice, and makes for perhaps one of the most memorable tunes Hooper has created for this film. It reminded me somewhat of a serenade from Mozart's Don Giovanni.
"Slughorn's Confession" has more of the signature sweetness, provided by a solo flute, punctuated by the dark undercurrent of strings. This is a really moving piece, and a real watershed when seen in its place in the movie.
As far as action tracks go, "The Journey to the Cave" is one of the best I've heard in any of the Harry Potter films. It is exciting without being overbearing, and you can really feel the roll and rush of the waves beating against the shore without having to see it for yourself.
"The Killing of Dumbledore" and "Dumbledore's Farewell" always get me. Though not as poignant as Doyle's "Death of Cedric" in "Goblet of Fire", they still manage to pull at my heartstrings and come across as the most moving pieces of the whole score.
I didn't like "The Friends" as much as "Loved Ones and Leaving", but the closing number "Weasley Stomp" was optimistic enough to leave you feeling lighthearted instead of downtrodden.
All in all, this score serves its purpose. It's a well-crafted and well-thought endeavor, and works just as well by itself as it does coupled with the film it was written for.
The movies are not the only thing magical about Harry Potter. June 10, 2010 STACY B. (WALNUT CREEK, CA United States) Right out the gate, Dumbledore and Harry after the death of Sirius and flashes going off from the cameras. The music puts you in the moment. The sadness is overwhelming, you can really feel for this kid, who just can't seem to get a break. I love this CD. My personal favorite is the Goblet of Fire soundtrack, but this one gives it a run for it's money. "Ginny", "Harry and Hermione", simple, yet beautiful. This is an easy CD to listen to, beginning to end. Finally, the second to the last, "The Friends", if this just doesn't feel you up with emotion, as you can see the three standing together looking out at the lake and the grounds of Hogwarts, then your just not into it. As for me, I'm totally into it. It's magical!
Atmospheric, but not entirely memorable January 19, 2010 C. Weigert (Grafton, WI USA) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
First things first, I'm a fan of the Potter franchise, so my default position is to want to like each new installment in it, regardless of what medium it's in.
I was a fan of Hooper's score for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," I liked his motifs for Dolores Umbridge, the Weasley twins, and Dumbledore's army. That being said, I really thought there was a bit too much rehashing of those themes in the score for "Half-Blood Prince," and not enough developing of new themes. There were atmospherics, to be sure, and the whole album comes off as being predominantly somber, which is appropriate, given the events of the story, but I would have liked more dedicated themes and motifs. I was actually distracted, while watching the film, going "Is this the same theme they used for the 'Fireworks' cue in 'Order of the Phoenix?' Yeah, I think it is!" They're good themes, sure, but one does want a bit more originality in the penultimate storyline of the series.
So, technically, more than competent, but I found myself wanting more.
tracks on this album/title November 29, 2009 slim 5 out of 7 found this review helpful
1. "Opening" 2:53
2. "In Noctem" 2:00
3. "The Story Begins" 2:05
4. "Ginny" 1:30
5. "Snape & the Unbreakable Vow" 2:50
6. "Wizard Wheezes" 1:42
7. "Dumbledore's Speech" 1:31
8. "Living Death" 1:55
9. "Into the Pensieve" 1:45
10. "The Book" 1:44
11. "Ron's Victory" 1:44
12. "Harry & Hermione" 2:52
13. "School!" 1:05
14. "Malfoy's Mission" 2:53
15. "The Slug Party" 2:11
16. "Into the Rushes" 2:33
17. "Farewell Aragog" 2:08
18. "Dumbledore's Foreboding" 1:18
19. "Of Love & War" 1:17
20. "When Ginny Kissed Harry" 2:38
21. "Slughorn's Confession" 3:33
22. "Journey to the Cave" 3:08
23. "The Drink of Despair" 2:44
24. "Inferi in the Firestorm" 1:53
25. "The Killing of Dumbledore" 3:34
26. "Dumbledore's Farewell" 2:22
27. "The Friends" 2:00
28. "The Weasley Stomp" 2:51
Showing reviews 1-5 of 40
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