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| Howard |
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore: (James
Newton Howard) As the "Wizarding World" franchise continues onward
through prequels to the "Harry Potter" franchise,
Fantastic Beasts:
The Secrets of Dumbledore represents an even closer relationship
between author J.K. Rowling's original concept and its "Fantastic
Beasts" spinoff. The beasts continue taking a diminished role in this
franchise, however, the third prequel resembling a political thriller
between a dizzying array of characters and losing more of the unique
appeal of
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The rise of
the villainous Gellert Grindelwald occupies the bulk of 2022's belated
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the character
shifting awkwardly to a new actor after Johnny Depp's high-profile
battles against his ex-wife and the media caused studio angst. Courtesy
Mads Mikkelsen instead, Grindelwald manages to escape prosecution for
his past crimes and launches a campaign to become the Supreme Head of
the International Confederation of Wizards. To stop him, Hogwarts' Albus
Dumbledore assembles an army of some familiar wizards and a few new ones
to journey from Germany to Bhutan. Meanwhile, a side story involving the
Dumbledore family occupies the film's title and yields peace for the
Credence Barebone plotline. A common criticism of
The Secrets of
Dumbledore is that it is too heavy on the characters and
conversations, making it one long resolution to conflicts established in
prior films. Some of the scant fantastic beasts and engaging action
sequences are sullied by grotesque depictions of animal cruelty and
German societal bloodlust. Still, Newt Scamander remains one of the
truly affable and unique heroes in cinema, and his presence manages to
save the film. Returning as expected for the third entry is composer
James Newton Howard, who has created a rich collection of musical
representations for the "Fantastic Beasts" franchise and is not afraid
to throw some bones towards John Williams' original "Harry Potter"
concepts as well. Of all the ongoing fantasy franchises of the 2010's
and 2020's, few can claim the consistent quality of Howard's music, with
anticipation and expectations understandably high.
Listeners can expect the scope and tone of Howard's music
for
The Secrets of Dumbledore to match that of the prior two, and
the general strategy of instrumental and thematic handling remains the
same. Broad orchestral strokes are again countered by occasional
electronic embellishments for the villains of the concept, and choral
accents, both solo and ensemble, yield several highlights. Piano and
woodwind emphasis for softer passages recur, balanced on the other side
by horrific crescendos of dissonance that occupy four or five cues. Few
composers are writing this kind of immense fantasy music for films in
the 2020's, and
The Secrets of Dumbledore maintains the general
feel of scores like
The Last Airbender and
Maleficent for
much of its length. This work, while retaining much of the structure of
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and
Fantastic Beasts:
The Crimes of Grindelwald, does deviate in a few ways strategically.
Most notably, the score does not open with a quote of John Williams'
Hedwig theme during the "Wizarding World" logos, and the movie's end
credits make use of a pop song rather than just Howard's score.
Otherwise, like
The Crimes of Grindelwald, it references the
Williams themes as appropriate within the picture and supplements the
bevy of previously existing themes with a handful of new ones. Howard
seems content to add to the complexities of his thematic tapestry rather
than provide a dominant new identity for each sequel, which does cause
the new themes in
The Secrets of Dumbledore to struggle in memory
at times. A fair amount of copying and pasting does exist in the work as
well, but the sections selected for reproduction in this film are well
chosen to denote situational connections and do represent, in many
cases, strong passages from both the prior two scores. These snippets
are integrated pretty cleanly as well, even if they do take air time
from new themes that required more development to achieve memorability.
That said, the ambience is what matters in these scores, and to this
end, there is no doubt that
The Secrets of Dumbledore excels. The
composer's ability to generate ruckus, dread, and sensitivity are all
well on display here, and the narrative of the score is admirably
maintained.
Some listeners may be attracted to Howard's sideshow
moments in
The Secrets of Dumbledore, and these add to the charm
of the work in ways Williams collectors can appreciate. The unique
"Manticore Dance" injects humors into a bizarre and otherwise terrifying
scene in the film, its cute, samba-like personality standing far apart.
The filmmakers also applied source jazz music to the scenes within
Jacob's bakery in this film, robbing some opportunity to further develop
his thematic material. The score is also angrier than the prior two, a
handful of strikingly abrasive, dissonant moments for Grindelwald joined
by menacing tones for the German Ministry of Magic. The rambling
electronic, rhythmic devices for Grindelwald are tame by comparison to
the ensemble atonality that sometimes accompanies his brutality. These
passages bother on album more than in context, if only because the mix
of Howard's score is awkwardly rearward throughout and loses some of its
impact in certain scenes. It is this diminishment in context that causes
Howard's new themes to be obscured, leaving the his original
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them themes and those by
Williams as the highlights on screen. Eight themes and several
supporting motifs for Grindelwald and Newt Scamander's beasts return
from that film, and Howard accesses all of his major ideas from
The
Crimes of Grindelwald as well. Three of the four major themes from
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone also enjoy one cameo
apiece. Add to these existing ideas Howard's three new major themes and
two location-related supporting motifs for
The Secrets of
Dumbledore and you get a dizzying wealth of structure to the score.
From the original film, Newt's theme remains the main identity of the
"Fantastic Beasts" franchise, and it is adapted brilliantly in a number
of places throughout the work. It is translated into a delicate,
accelerated rhythm on piano at 0:34 into "I'm Expecting Someone" and
enjoys a large, mysterious fantasy moment of its opening phrase for
Newt's appearance at the outset of "She's Ready." It lightly mingles
with original material at 1:24 into "Wyvern Rescue" and once again
assumes a role of rhythmic suspense at 2:44 into "Young Man's Magic."
The shifting of the idea into these cyclical figures is fantastic by
Howard, adopting the franchise identity into places where generic
alternatives might have sufficed.
Among the highlights of the score for
The Secrets of
Dumbledore is the formal announcement of Newt's main franchise theme
at the outset of "Countersight," the exuberant, massive performance
accompanied by swirling flutes and stately brass in secondary phrasing
for the train scene. With Newt the center of attention in this
conversation, the usage is adept, and Howard diminishes its main phrase
again to a fast, rhythmic device later in the cue, though not as
obviously so. The underlying chords of Newt's theme inform the rising
fantasy tones opening "Same Blood," and a smartly inverted version
quietly opens "The Erkstag" before one ominous consolidation of the main
phrase at 1:29. The theme then retreats until the conclusive "The
Promise," recalling the previous score's late Newt and Dumbledore
conversation at 1:55 but applied here to close out the Bhutan location
after this story's climax. Meanwhile, Newt's adventure theme from the
first film figures briefly in the mayhem of "Assassin!," supporting
fragments throughout the cue, and returns at 1:24 into "The Escape" with
gusto and in the rhythms at 0:35 into "Case Chaos." As per the previous
film, Howard works the idea into his new end titles suite, heard softly
at 2:27 into "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" to close out
the titles. The antics of Newt's various beasts often cause Howard to
reprise snippets from the first score, too, these passages including a
lovely reprisal from 3:27 into "Inside the Case" at this movie's only
glimpse into that case at 1:58 into "Wyvern Rescue." Vague hints of this
material can be heard throughout the first half of "The Erkstag" and
"Ted and Pick." The motif for the cute, greedy niffler is humorously
accessed at 2:42 into "Countersight" for the reintroduction between
Jacob and the niffler that recalls the first film's opening bank scene.
The final theme involving Newt to return is the one of romance between
him and Tina Goldstein, whose role in this film is maddeningly minimal.
The gorgeous identity opens "The Ceremony" on piano and then light choir
for her reunion with Newt, and the idea is utilized curiously but
satisfyingly as Dumbledore literally walks down the snowy New York
street to close out the film. Given that Newt is somewhat marginalized
in the film's story despite being the main character of the franchise
now, Howard did an admirable job weaving all of these themes associated
with him into
The Secrets of Dumbledore.
Retaining an important role in
The Secrets of
Dumbledore is the comedy relief, Jacob the muggle, and his highly
likeable, jazzy theme continues to distinct from everything else in the
franchise's music. Howard thankfully accesses his theme more often here
than in
The Crimes of Grindelwald, and its easily identifiable
melody carries a significant impact during its applications. It debuts
at 1:03 into "Lally" on lazy solo trombone and is afforded a spirited
piano and jazz ensemble performance at 1:02 into "Call Me Jacob" before
being interrupted by a dissonant crescendo for his sudden book-traveling
fright. The theme continues opposite the niffler material at 2:29 into
"Countersight" on lightly humorous strings and turns melancholy at 2:41
into "He's Lying to You" with quiet string lament after Grindelwald's
attack on Jacob. The material for his love interest, Queenie Goldstein,
is less developed in this score, sadly, but it is there. Her primary
theme is heard in full on piano at 0:36 into "Call Me Jacob" for her
reunion with Jacob and only has subsequent influence in a dissolved
version early in "Go to Him." The formal love theme for the couple
appears in two phrases on ethereal choir at 0:28 into "Assassin!" but is
otherwise absent. Howard missed a huge opportunity to develop or torture
the theme in the first minute of "A Full Heart," though one could argue
this absence was intentional. Likewise, the composer did not return to
the idea during light organ portion of "The Ceremony" as Queenie and
Jacob are married. On the other side of the emotional spectrum, Howard
does offer substantial and interesting development of his conspiracy and
Obscurus/Credence Barebone themes from the first film. The conspiracy
motif became, reportedly accidentally by filmmaker demand, the fanfare
for the main titles of these films, and Howard continues to oblige that
treatment. His handling of the pre-title rescue sequence builds
explicitly out of the crescendo in the middle of "Newt Releases the
Thunderbird" during "Wyvern Rescue" before the film's title emerges from
the clouds as per tradition at 3:16 with the fanfare version of the
conspiracy motif. Its arrangement here isn't as impressive as in the
prior two films, however, as it is abbreviated for no good reason; the
transition to Grindelwald's castle immediately thereafter could have
used the fuller conspiracy motif fanfare from the first film just as
well. Still, the motif's fanfare mode remains a highlight
nonetheless.
After the opening title, the conspiracy motif stews more
often than it shines in
The Secrets of Dumbledore, informing the
rhythmic suspense early in "A Message to Deliver" before finally
returning to the original score's main conspiracy mode at the outset of
"Insufficient Evidence." Its mysterious rhythmic mode is reprised at
1:17 into "Go to Him," and very slight hints of the rhythm opening "The
Vote." More interesting is the maturation and slow death of the
Obscurus/Credence Barebone theme as the character struggles to achieve
salvation. Its electronic tones open "Wyvern Rescue" in ways very
familiar to the first film, but it shifts to its lamentation mode on
solemn cello at 0:11 into "I Know You Are There." Continuing at 1:02,
the idea successfully becomes more yearning and solitary by this point,
with no growling anger in tow. Credence's theme struggles lightly
throughout "Do You Know What it's Like?" and receives significant
treatment in "Same Blood," where it initially fights against fragments
of Howard's new Dumbledore family theme at 1:57. After he is defeated in
that scene, Credence's descending sadness motif returns, followed by
theme itself on cello at 3:28, after which it forms full fantasy
lamentation from the prior score, the copy and paste technique still
effective here. The themes for Grindelwald himself have always been more
elusive in this franchise, the two primary ideas of ascendance and pure
evil introduced during his reveal at the end of the first film but
really taking hold in
The Crimes of Grindelwald. While the
character's secondary ideas expanded upon in "The Thestral Chase" do
make cameos here, their individual purposes remain unclear, and it's the
literally rising ascendancy motif in that cue and dating back to
"Relieve Him of His Wand" that really represents the character in
The
Secrets of Dumbledore. It stews at 2:19 into "A Message to Deliver"
and 0:16 into "Kama's Memory" before more resolutely asserting its
dominance at 1:54 into the latter cue. The idea is lightly choral at
0:32 into "Let Him Stand," threatens in variations late in
"Reanimation," interjects on solo cello at 1:47 into "The Room We
Require," builds choral momentum late in "Surrounded," and ruminates
early in "Hey Fellas." The ascendency motif achieves its goal with a
triumphant but brief statement at 3:06 into "The Vote" (still less
glorious than in "The Thestral Chase") but only lasts through 1:10 into
"He's Lying to You" before momentum doesn't allow it to continue.
Secondary portions of "The Thestral Chase" do persist, however.
Also associated with the villain from
The Crimes of
Grindelwald is an ominous choral motif that, in the context of usage
in
The Secrets of Dumbledore, seems to suggest Grindelwald's
hypnotic brainwashing effect on others. Usually three choral notes, two
repeating and then a descent, this motif curiously exists in smoother
tones in the middle of "She's Ready" but makes an explicit appearance in
full form at 2:10 into "Kama's Memory." The latter cue suggests the mind
control element, as it accompanies Grindelwald's perceived success in
removing Kama's memory of his dead sister, Leta from the previous film.
That reference also allows Howard to state Leta's theme from
The
Crimes of Grindelwald once in its complete and beautiful form at
0:59 into "Kama's Memory," the solo vocal beauty of this moment
recalling some of the best material from the prior score and having an
immensely tragic impact in this film's scene as well. The remaining
returning themes from
The Crimes of Grindelwald are associated
with Dumbledore, and given how that character has really taken over this
franchise as its central focus, it's strange how infrequently Howard
accesses his main Dumbledore identity here. Granted, the Dumbledore
family theme has partly displaced it, and some of the references to the
character's own, noble theme are not featured on the main album release
and are still peppered throughout the film. On album, though, it only
appears in the final cues, at 1:40 into "The Promise" as a repeat of
previous score's closing conversation and at 2:32 into "The Ceremony" on
oboe. The composer does understandably recall his blood pact theme from
The Crimes of Grindelwald, as that concept is a key element of
the plot in this movie. The material from "Blood Pact" returns as a
suggestion at 1:04 into "I'm Expecting Someone," with rhythmic variants
continuing in "We Can Free Each Other" as Dumbledore and Grindelwald
discuss their predicament over tea. The theme returns to original form
at the start of "Young Man's Magic." The conflicts absorbing the
Dumbledore character in
The Secrets of Dumbledore extend from the
blood pact to the loss that his family has experienced in relation to
his brother, sister, and Credence. The diminishment of the pre-existing
themes for Dumbledore in this score are somewhat due to their
replacement by a Dumbledore family theme that addresses the brother,
Aberforth Dumbledore of Hog's Head Inn, their dead sister, and their
dilemma about how to handle the fact that Credence wishes to return home
to the family.
The Dumbledore family theme is technically the most
prolific and major new identity of
The Secrets of Dumbledore, but
it might go unnoticed by most listeners. Its sad, tentative two-note
figures are easy to miss, its chords of a softer secondary portion
vaguely opening the movie in "I'm Expecting Someone" and the theme not
truly defining itself until its formal debut on clarinet at 1:28 into "I
Know You Are There" and later on piano. It begins to emerge out of the
Credence material in "Do You Know What it's Like?," suffers at 1:57 into
"Same Blood," and consolidates quietly at 1:16 into "Powers of the
Beast." It finally defines its purpose at 0:34 into "Family History" on
strings, a secondary phrase at 1:23 more romantic and hopeful. The
passage that opens the score returns lightly at 1:53 into "Family
History," and this secondary phrasing starts evolving into a new idea
that will encompass Credence's actual acceptance back into the family.
This secondary section returns at 1:11 into "Case Chaos," yielding back
to the primary phrase eerily on choir at 2:05 into "He's Lying to You."
It's redeveloped into a victorious identity in the middle of "He Sought
to Kill, I Sought to Protect," continuing in first half of "I Was Never
Your Enemy" and reduced to hints of the new variant early in "The
Promise." This evolved version surrounds Dumbledore's theme in the
middle of "The Ceremony," suggesting that the character is finally at
peace. The other vital new theme in
The Secrets of Dumbledore
belongs to the mystical, deer-like Qilin creature that helps choose the
new Supreme Head of the International Confederation of Wizards by bowing
only to the worthiest candidate in the election for that position. This
idea represents Howard choral pleasantness in its most appealing, light
fantasy mode, debuting at 1:47 in "She's Ready" and hinted in the middle
of "Wyvern Rescue." The theme returns at 0:36 into "Powers of the
Beast," is twisted badly by voices in "Reanimation," and is alluded to
in a related fantasy revelation stance at 1:18 into "He's Lying to You,"
informing the light conversational material later in the cue. As the
true, living Qilin emerges early in "The Twin," Howard reforms the theme
fully on solo voice at 0:50 and then ensemble choir. The new Lally
character, a charms professor from Hogwarts, receives Howard's other
major new theme, though it's plucky and affable in a way that is oddly
similar to how Newt's beasts are handled by Howard. This likeable theme
opens "Lally" and does figure into at least one cue unreleased on the
album, but the idea otherwise disappears until a large and playful
rendition at 0:53 into the "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore"
end title cue.
Howard's two location-related motifs for
The Secrets
of Dumbledore are impressively imposing and present much of the
score's exotic power. The German Ministry motif debuts at 1:07 into
"Countersight" in rhythmic form and becomes ominous with force near the
end of the cue. It gains volume impressively throughout "Insufficient
Evidence" and opens "Let Him Stand" with powerful fear, becoming even
more insistent in the middle of the cue. Later, a Bhutan motif also
doubles for the new Brazilian Supreme Head leader. Howard doesn't
explicitly preview this material in the unique, pleasant melody conveyed
by heavenly female vocals in "Kingdom of Bhutan;" this music seems more
closely connected to the related breathiness of the Qilin material,
which makes geographical sense. The idea is impressively twisted into
malice in the middle of "A Full Heart" with all the exotic force of
Waterworld at its best. The idea shifts to a more elegant form at
0:56 into "The Vote" before becoming more urgent at 2:21 and then tragic
at 3:28. This sequence of development is highly impressive. The idea
continues its malleable evolution at 2:57 into "He's Lying to You" in
significantly diminished, softer tones, returning at 1:48 into "The
Twin" in a respectful crescendo. Howard alludes to the theme in an
almost unrecognizable, lightly exuberant rendition on choir at 1:34 into
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore." Both of these two
location motifs offer striking highlights in their portions of the
score, the former often intertwined with Howard's original conspiracy
motif, and the latter eventually skirting the Qilin material as
appropriate. Both "Insufficient Evidence" and "The Vote" are memorable
takeaways from the score because of these two themes, their presence in
the film better mixed than many of the surrounding cues. Not suffering
from anonymity, certainly, are the Williams themes that manage to work
their way into this score. While the opening "Wizarding World" logo is
lacking the Hedwig theme for no apparent reason, Howard applies it with
satisfaction for the opening shot of Hogwarts, though this cue is not on
album. The robust performance of the Hogwarts variant of that theme
early in "The Room We Require" is actually for the room itself and not
the castle, but the adaptation is extremely well arranged. Williams'
magical mischief motif, which had appeared in
The Crimes of
Grindelwald as well, opens "Assassin!" for Lally's chaotic spell on
Jacob that ruins a dinner party of evil schmucks. The Quidditch theme by
Williams also makes a spectacular cameo as Dumbledore uses a golden
snitch to help create mayhem in Bhutan; this cue is not on the album,
though the transition out of it can be heard at the start of "Case
Chaos."
Overall,
The Secrets of Dumbledore is a very
finely crafted score that is faithfully loyal to the franchise,
including the Williams scores. Those who appreciated
The Crimes of
Grindelwald will especially find merit in its darker tones, though
listeners expecting the awesome fantasy of a positive character from
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them may be disappointed.
There are some quibbles to be had with Howard's spotting decisions in
places. The opening two cues are a missed opportunity for the Dumbledore
and Grindelwald themes to mingle, for instance, and "Young Man's Magic"
and "Same Blood" are missing challenged versions of Dumbledore theme for
no good reason. Interestingly, while there is a phoenix associated with
the Dumbledore family in this story, it is reportedly not Fawkes as
depicted in
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, so Williams'
theme for that concept does not return. On the humorous side, film music
collectors may find a coincidental connection to James Horner's
The
Mask of Zorro love theme at 2:21 into "The Ceremony." Not as amusing
is the end credits situation, which makes even less sense here than in
Howard's
The Jungle Cruise. The first half of the "Fantastic
Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" cue was replaced with a new recording
of the end credits fanfare from the first film, segueing into the Lally
material as on the album. The accelerated scherzo presented on album
doesn't clearly connect to any idea in this franchise, and the
arrangement of the prior credits piece is magnificent in this film's end
titles; it's unfortunate that Howard didn't initially provide the
franchise's anchoring themes in that cue. The credits then shift to the
pointless, light pop song, "Heaven," by Gregory Porter, which is
inoffensive but doesn't connect to the score despite Howard arranging
its strings. The credits later track in parts of "Manticore Dance" and
"The Twin" before ending quietly. Whoever assembled that end credits
suite must have been on sedatives. While the album does offer a generous
106 minutes of score, it is missing some important cues, like the second
half of "Lilly," Dumbledore's arrival in Germany (with a snippet of his
theme), the lightly comedic case order cue, the German leader's speech
(using some creature suspense material), and the initial Bhutan arrival
cue, which is similar to "A Full Heart" but different. Likewise, the
arrival at Hogwarts cue and Quidditch theme cameo in Bhutan are missing.
Despite the long album, several of these missing cues are pivotal, and a
proper presentation remains in demand. The score as a whole is deserving
of that treatment, even if both it and
The Crimes of Grindelwald
confirm that
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them remains the
sole classic of the trilogy.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 70 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 86,483 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.
