> Patrick Doyle is a good composer, the music for Potter itself is pretty
> descent as a standalone piece but as a part in the Potter-franchise, it
> just doesn't fit. The nearly complete dismissal of Williams work is
> unforigvable! John Williams made 50% of the Potter experience with his
> music. Themes as Fawkes the Phoenix, A window to the Past, Double Trouble,
> Misschief Managed, the Patronus Light, Buckbeaks Flight, the Chamber of
> Secrets, Meeting Tom Riddle (strong setup for potential Voldemort theme,
> yet Doyle [bleep!]s it up with something cheesy), Harry's Wonderous World,
> Reunion of Friends, Duelling the Basilisk, Portrait Gallery and many many
> others made Potter such a charming and magical experience.

> Shifting so boldly in style in a running franchise breaks the whole feel
> and experience of the series. Of course it is nearly impossible to compete
> with the brilliance of Williams and his extremely layered orchestral
> writings but at least stay faithfull to the source material! They should
> have gone for an Ottman-like Superman Returns aproach. Building upon the
> established work of Williams. Now it's just a standalone effort that
> doesn't fit in the Potter-franchise.

> Here's hoping that Hooper will give us a more faithfull Potter experience
> then Patrick Doyles failed attempt to reinvent a brilliant musical
> franchise.

I am going to disagree with you, politely. Doyle's score, while not keeping with the same themes and such, fits quite well within the series because of the texture it creates. To me, the whole score has this rather cloudy feeling over it, and I get the same feeling from the film - the previous three movies didn't have that and neither did their scores. The film itself moves away from the feelings and styles of the first three and as a result so does the score - it is a logical succession. Not to mention that Williams himself began to leave behind some of his own themes in POA leaving us with mostly just Hedwig's Theme, just as Doyle did here.

I think Doyle's score is actually the best of the franchise, I don't honestly know why, but this one is the one that pops into my head when I think "best Potter score." I love Doyle's themes, I love his layering and his action cues, his orchestration is top notch. Do I miss some of the older themes? Of course, particularly the six note rising and falling theme for Harry's past that was used so magnificently in the first score (A Change of Season for example, first score track 10). I rather miss the quidditch theme too, and A Window to the Past. But when a new composer takes over the franchise one has to expect that they will bring their own musical ideas. Sometimes this is a tragic let down, but in this case I'd say it was an incredible gift from Doyle. Continuity aside, this score is amazing, methodic, and simply beautiful.

I've listened to some of Hooper's score and it seems to be in the same vein as Doyle's score, I like what I heard.

Amuro