John Williams: His 10 Greatest Film Scores
by Kyle Hytonen

10. Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone (2001)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Li0SWlwe34 This film, dubbed The Sorcerer's Stone in the US, came as a resurgence in Williams' career. At the time he was bouncing back between his collaborations with Spielberg and working on the new Star Wars prequels, but didn't have anything profound or wholly original to call his own. Then the Harry Potter film series got going (which in the early stages was in development with Spielberg directing) and Williams found new found inspiration and a younger audience to appreciate his work. Working with director and frequent collaborator Chris Columbus, Williams was given free reign to try new approaches to creating an original sound for the Harry Potter universe. The epic fantasy series lends well to Williams' musical voice, who from the film's opening scene sets up what would become one of his most memorable works. Beginning his score with a quiet Celeste Piano piece, Williams introduces the theme that has now since become synonymous with both the Harry Potter films and even the books. Other standouts in his film score is the rousing Wagner influenced scoring of the series' first Quidditch game and a deadly introduction to Voldemort near the film's climax. Williams received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score for his work and would only go on to score the next 2 Harry Potter films, but his iconic original theme for the series has been present in all 7 of the adaptations.
Contributor
Kyle Hytonen
Contributor
Kyle Hytonen is a film school grad, an independent film-maker, photographer and sleeper-inner.
See more from Kyle