Soundtrack Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Posted by Jon Blough

July 13, 2009

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This is a review of the motion picture score Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by Patrick Doyle.

“The most consistent, exciting, and ominous entry in the series”

With John Williams departing the Potter series on a musical high note, expectations were of course high for Patrick Doyle, especially with Goblet of Fire being the largest and potentially darkest film so far. To no surprise Doyle would inject his own style into the franchise rather than ape Williams (thank God). The only previous theme referenced is Hedwig’s Theme (which never was really about Hedwig, but who really cares at this point), which gets a new romanticized sweep in the middle of “The Story Continues”. The rest of the themes are left by the wayside. On one hand, the lack of continuity is a slight bummer, and for those that demand musical franchises continue major themes the resulting approach will never be great. On the other hand, numerous franchises (Star Trek…duh) have produced fine, even great, music without adhering to previous themes. Williams threw out most of his former themes in Azkaban and still achieved fantastic results, and Doyle’s reinvention proves equally impressive.

Sinister

Of all the scores for the Potter series, GOF is certainly the most sinister. While the first two scores featured the lighter fanfares and Hedwig’s theme as “happier” identities and Azkaban had the family theme getting equal playing time with the darker identities, here the dominant motif is a dark, snaking, rising theme that seems to represent either the coming of Voldemort or the film’s descent into bleaker moments. Never redemptive, never uplifting, never nice, just building up more and more menace throughout. Indeed, the score follows it by getting less and less uplifting and heroic as it goes along. Take the three contests (all three featuring astounding exciting action bits) as an example. With “Golden Egg” we have soaring brass statements signaling victory. In “The Black Lake” we have ominous brass chords, shimmering watery electronics, and a dissonant choir amidst sensationally driving rhythms. By the climactic “The Maze” and “Voldemort” things have descended to levels of pure terror, with extended moments of blasting unease (think a less dissonant Goldenthal) creating one of the most menacing 15-minute stretchs of the decade.

One easy way to separate GOF from Williams’ prior efforts is its at-times outragoues bombast. “The Quidditch World Cup” throws off a more primal cue than we’re used to for these scenes, with furious blasting brass and wordless Viking-like chanting. “The Dark Mark” is aggressive writing at its best, crafting a dark furious atmosphere that would set the template for Doyle’s following scores for Eragon and The Last Legion. The drums and brass in “Golden Egg” are MASSIVE (caps lock on to denote lack of word creativity) and give the lengthy cue furious momentum throughout. The style is certainly a shift from Williams’ more intricate and frenetic cues, but for my money it’s just as impressive.

Lighter Moments

Bombast and darkness aside, there are some stupendous lighter moments. “Foreign Visitors Arrive” and “The Goblet of Fire” sparkle and glisten with a new charming Hogwarts fanfare throughout, and the former throws in a powerful brass close that may even impress Williams. The waltz pieces are cute fun, less generic than you might expect for such slightly comedic dance cues. But the new theme for Harry is the standout in this category, being both equal parts beautiful and powerful. Given how it develops listeners may not notice it for a few listens, and mentions of each performance are probably necessary for newbies. At first it is only hinted at briefly on strings in “The Dark Mark”. Most listeners will recognize it for the relaxed romantic drifting in the highlight “Harry in Winter”, though its victorious brass statements in “Golden Egg” and “The Black Lake” are just as impressive. “Hogwarts’ March” even puts the theme in a jubilant march for the most surprisingly highlight of the album. Its string performance in the last minute of the otherwise growling “Voldemort” is emotionally gripping even if one hasn’t seen the film. Only the repetitive comedy cue “Rita Skeeter” remains the unexceptional outlier in the comedy area, though that’s probably due to the constraints the scene and writing style.

Conclusion

Indeed, outside of that aforementioned cue and the for-diehards-only songs, there’s something worth raving about in every cue. The mysterious choir in “Underwater Secrets”…the crushingly sad string writing in “Death of Cedric”…goodness, I could write an entire review just listing all the fantastic passages this album is chock-full of. Doyle’s efforts equal Williams’ finest achievements in the saga and in more than a few cases overshoot them. GOF is the most consistent, exciting, and ominous entry in the series and stands even taller when one considers the fall to pleasant anonymity with the music for Order of the Phoenix.

Album (75:45)
1. The Story Continues (1:31)
2. Frank Dies (2:12)
3. The Quidditch World Cup (1:52)
4. The Dark Mark (3:27)
5. Foreign Visitors Arrive (1:30)
6. The Goblet of Fire (3:23)
7. Rita Skeeter (1:42)
8. Sirius Fire (2:00)
9. Harry Sees Dragons (1:54)
10. Golden Egg (6:11)
11. Neville’s Waltz (2:11)
12. Harry in Winter (2:56)
13. Potter Waltz (2:19)
14. Underwater Secrets (2:28)
15. The Black Lake (4:37)
16. Hogwarts’ March (2:46)
17. The Maze (4:44)
18. Voldemort (9:39)
19. Death of Cedric (1:59)
20. Another Year Ends (2:21)
21. Hogwarts’ Hymn (2:59)
22. Do the Hippogriff (3:39)
23. This is the Night (3:24)
24. Magic Works (4:01)