Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Original Motion Picture Score by Nicholas Hooper
The announcement about Nicholas Hooper being brought on to score Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the fifth film in what is now an eight-film series based on the wildly popular seven-book series) in late 2006 certainly raised some eyebrows in the film music community. Many held out hope that Patrick Doyle would return for a second go-round after scoring Goblet of Fire or possibly John Williams, who left after scoring the first three films.
The fifth film would be a bit of a gamble on the producers’ decision to have a former television director (with no feature film experience), but as luck would turn out, directorially the film turned out beautifully, bringing out more nuanced performances from the three main actors and paring down an 800-page tome into a beautifully streamlined, exciting and effective film. It continued the upward swing of the franchise, narrowly edging out Goblet of Fire to become the second most highest-grossing Potter film domestically ($292 million to be exact).
As for the score, however, it is a fairly good start from a composer (who like Yates mostly worked in television before making his film debut), but to be truthful it lacks the power and scope John Williams and Patrick Doyle brought to the first four films.
In terms of size and scope for his Potter score, Hooper also utilizes a 90-piece London orchestra and incorporates choir, subtle electronics, and a Japanese taiko drum into the score. But even that doesn’t work for the score’s favor, even if Hooper does find more ways of integrating Williams‘s “Hedwig‘s Theme” more often than Doyle did for Goblet of Fire. Not that it’s not enjoyable (it certainly is), but overall it is much more lighter and simplistic than what Williams and Doyle would’ve brought.
The flighty orchestration works better in tracks such as “Professor Umbridge” where the character’s overbearing sweetness is well represented with woodwinds, prancing strings, glockenspiel and French horns (and her dark side is brought out at the end of the track “Umbridge Spoils A Beautiful Morning” with ominous strings). The lighter tone does make for some more lovely tracks such as “Dumbledore’s Army”, “Flight of the Order of the Phoenix”, “The Ministry of Magic”, “Journey to Hogwarts” and “Room of Requirement” where Hooper’s lighter orchestration really do imbue the score with a genuine sense of magic. Additionally, the Irish jig imbued with electric guitar fuels the highly-enjoyable “Fireworks” (which does highlight an equally-funny scene in the film).
Yet, the score is also weakened due to its simplicity. “The Kiss” is lovely underscore, but relies simply on elongated string chords and tinkling chimes, and not much of a romantic theme. Even when Hooper mines his darker side, it’s considerably underwhelming (a section of “Hall of Prophecy” consists of minor electronic backhits), and while tracks like “Dementors in the Underpass“ and “Darkness Takes Over” are ominous and gothic, it doesn’t last for long. The Japanese taiko drum is used in these cues, but used sparingly, it sounds like it was thrown in as an afterthought.
Even the action cues suffer. While John Williams and Patrick Doyle managed to come up with some impressively complex, exciting and well-orchestrated music (“The Quidditch Match“ and “Golden Egg" come to mind), Hooper does his best to do that but comes up short. “Hall of Prophecy” and “The Death of Sirius” are the monster action cues in the album, with string fugues mingling with brass, timpani and choir. It’s effective in the film, but the mixing by Peter Cobbin (The Lord of the Rings) just muddies it up, so the music doesn’t have that clear, deep sense of urgency and power. “Flight of the Order of the Phoenix” is the most rousing cue with a fine snare drum rhythm but it only lasts for a minute and a half.
Again, it seems like I don’t like the score, but I do. It’s just that I expected a more powerful, exciting and darker score than what Hooper delivered, which was lighter and fluffier than expected. I don’t know if it’s simply the orchestration or the quality of the writing itself that detracts, but I both like the score in that does fit in the film perfectly and dislike it because it could've been so much more. Considering that Hooper signed on to score Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (and a likely candidate for the two-part Deathly Hallows now that Yates will direct that too), I hope Hooper tries for more ambitious writing and better orchestration for his next Potter outing. Still, for those who loved the film and liked the music, I recommend the album. But beware, the soundtrack is horribly out-of-order. Even if it was arranged for the best listening experience it doesn’t work well. Just program it in film order: 3, 4, 17, 10, 15, 13, 2, 16, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14, 11, 12, 7, 18.
Track Listing:
1. Fireworks (1:47)
2. Professor Umbridge (2:34)
3. Another Story (2:39)**
4. Dementors in the Underpass (1:47)
5. Dumbledore's Army (2:44)
6. The Hall of Prophecies (4:29)**
7. Possession (3:22)*
8. The Room of Requirements (6:11)
9. The Kiss (1:58)
10. A Journey to Hogwarts (2:56)**
11. The Sirius Deception (2:38)
12. The Death of Sirius (4:00)
13. Umbridge Spoils a Beautiful Morning (2:42)
14. Darkness Takes Over (3:00)
15. The Ministry of Magic (2:50)
16. The Sacking of Trelawney (2:17)
17. Flight of the Order of the Phoenix (1:36)
18. Loved Ones and Leaving (3:16)
Total Time: 52:24
* = Conducted by Nicholas Hooper
** = Contains “Hedwig’s Theme” composed by John Williams
Music composed by Nicholas Hooper. Conducted by Alastair King. Music performed by the Chamber Orchestra of London and RSVP Voices. Orchestrations by Julian Kershaw, Bradley Miles, Geoff Alexander, Alastair King and Simon Whiteside. Album produced by Nicholas Hooper.
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