Product Description

CD 1 features John Williams's music from and inspired by the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. CD 2 is a special CD-ROM comprising: Electronic Arts Harry Potter video game preview; LEGO video game preview; English-language film trailer; Harry Potter Poster Gallery (three film posters which can be printed out in colour); Wallpaper (image of Harry and Hagrid).

Track Listing

1. Prologue
2. Harry's Wondrous World
3. The Arrival of Baby Harry
4. Visit to the Zoo / Letters from Hogwarts
5. Diagon Alley / The Gringotts Vault
6. Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters / The Journey to Hogwarts
7. Entry into the Great Hall / The Banquet
8. Mr Longbottom Flies
9. Hogwarts Forever! / The Moving Stairs
10. The Norwegian Ridgeback / Change of Season
11. The Quidditch Match
12. Christmas at Hogwarts
13. The Invisibility Cloak / The Library Scene
14. Fluffy's Harp
15. In the Devil's Snare / The Flying Keys
16. The Chess Game
17. The Face of Voldemort
18. Leaving Hogwarts
19. Hedwig's Theme

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19902 in Music
• Released on: 2002-05-06
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Soundtrack, Import

Amazon.co.uk Review
You needn't see the film of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to appreciate the wonder, magic and fearful chills of JK Rowling's phenomenal bestseller in John Williams' outstanding score. Williams typically avoids the source material for the films he scores, but he reportedly derived great pleasure and inspiration from Rowling's first Harry Potter adventure, and created a perfect motif (fully expressed in "Hedwig's Theme") to dominate his score, first heard as a dreamy celeste waltz and embellished through myriad incarnations and moods, often with a sinister edge befitting the darker tones of Chris Columbus' direction. Fantastical allusions to Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky are evident (among others), while Williams' epic track is "Quidditch Match", a breathtaking frenzy to accompany the film's dazzling highlight. And while Williams occasionally flirts with self-plagiarism (with inevitable variants of his Hook and Star Wars themes), this is nevertheless a richly regal score that brilliantly evokes the mystery and magic of Harry Potter's world. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews

More Potter magic
This is a great soundtrack for anyone who has seen the film, read the books or intends to...so I guess that kindof covers the world! Seriously John Williams has done it again, the eerie yet magical 'Prologue' perfectly captures the magic that JK Rowlings created in her HP series. Other tracks like 'Fluffys Harp' and 'Christmas at Hogwarts' capture the mood and atmosphere of the film brilliantly. My favourite piece is actually 'the Chess game' as it captures the excitment and drama of the scene. The bonus second CD with screensaver and trailers for the PC means that you shouldn't think twice about buying this soundtrack.

Great music, but different to the film!
The music on this CD is really great, magical, evocative music. And, I would have thought, perfect for the film. After seeing the film, I realise what a genius John Williams is; his music tells the story perfectly, and is perfect for what's happening on screen.
But, there is a LOT of music in the film that isn't on the CD, and is actually a lot better than the music on the CD. And, curiously enough, there's a lot of music on the CD which isn't in the film. Diagon Alley, for instance, has two completely different pieces on the CD and in the film. As does the Great Hall, and, to a certain extent, christmas. The music in the film is a lot better than the music on this CD, but it's still a really great CD to have. One of John Williams' best!

An incredibly uplifting score
The fact that each of John Williams' soundtracks seems to bring something fresh to the genre has always amazed me. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone, John Williams has introduced the celeste to the world of film with virtuosity and panache. In writing the score, Williams seems to have drawn from the soundworlds of many of his previous soundtracks such as E.T. (The Norwegian Ridgeback), The Phantom Menace (The Quidditch Match), Jaws (In the Devil's Snare) and above all Hook (Harry's Wondrous World, Hedwig's Theme, Diagon Alley). The result is an incredibly uplifting score filled with invigorating brass fanfares, soaring emotive string melodies, the innocent sound of the celeste, and fantastical tutti passages. This is certainly a CD not to be missed if you are a fan of John Williams, movie sountracks, or symphonic works in general.