The Essential Harry Potter Film Music Collection
For lovers of film music, the first soundtrack to be released with a Harry Potter film, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone, was a must-have, simply because it was written by John Williams. However, that recording was also snapped up by people of many ages, who had fallen in love with J.K. Rowling’s magical tale, and was a necessary addition to the library, along with the books.
Since then, another four films have been released. While John Williams composed the scores to the first three, the subsequent two films were scored by Patrick Doyle and Nicholas Cooper, respectively. It bears keeping in mind that each film has had a different director, too, and as such, each has tended to have a distinctive quality, due not only to the changes in Director and soundtrack composer, but also the increasingly dark subject matter.
While Hedwig’s theme seems to be a perennial favourite, the excerpts from each of the Harry Potter film scores are immensely enjoyable, and the double CD makes for a protracted immersion into the delightful world of Harry Potter.