"Dumbledore's Army" - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Score Reduction & Analysis)

A full score reduction and analysis of "Dumbledore's Army." Enjoy!
SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL & BECOME A MEMBER TODAY
► Access to exclusive, members-only analysis videos
► Access to downloadable analysis PDFs
► Early access to new videos
► Photos and status updates of videos I’m currently working on
► Loyalty badges next to your name in the comments
Become a member by clicking the “JOIN” button above, or by following this link: / @bradfrey
TWITCH: twitch.tv/bradfrey
INSTAGRAM: @therealbradfrey
FACEBOOK: filmscoreanalysis
EMAIL: [e-mail]

[@EvanYoungMusic]

I just love how this doesn’t sound army-ish at all. Great use of that cadence to the VI.

[@hamburglar8794]

I personally love this music. I feel like it perfectly captures what it. Would be like to wonder around Hogwarts.

[@NelsonClick]

Wow. I never paid attention to this theme in the movie. What an peppy little snippet. Funny yet nervous with optimism.

[@jiminyjustin]

I don't care if people think it's "cliche" or "kitsch", I friggin' love this piece.

[@richy77]

About the beginning, the article states that it is a variation of the theme no? In that case I think there is indeed some resemblance to Hedwig's Theme

[@jakegearhart]

I personally really like Nicholas Hooper's take on Harry Potter. It could just be nostalgia though.

[@carlpowell0]

A great piece which I don't think you have analysed is the "Entering Diagon Alley!" theme in philosophers stone. Perhaps you might consider it if you think it is worth an analysis.

[@ArmandoGarcia-ci7el]

My favorite theme outside of Williams' scores

[@Musicrafter12]

Why the hate? I really enjoyed this one. It's unfortunate that it was used in about a thousand other places in the films which made it feel like a standard cue instead of a proper leitmotif, but it's fantastic for its intended purpose.

[@joshberkin5567]

I love it too

[@wavetech_]

because people like to voice their opinions. and although I disagree with the overt accusations of the piece (and the whole score) being SO extremely kitsch, I can understand where they're coming from. Now considering the people who outright hate the piece, I can only guess there's some jealousy to spark the hate, in there. 'Cause if you really don't care about something, you don't go around spewing hateful comments about it. You just ignore it as another "banal" piece of music. Some people have fair criticiscm, and some are just very vocal about their academic opinions. All I can say (long winded, I know) is enjoy music for what it can bring you. If it evokes nice feelings then just shut up and enjoy. We don't got much time about complexity where it isn't neede. Or fantasy composer football for that matter. (I feel you though)

[@CEKEPanama]

1:30. Wonderful French Horns

[@AkademiaPianina]

Awesome! Thank You for that work!!

[@PianoGeek3]

Awesome! One of my franchise favorites. I was wondering, if possible, if you could analyze some stuff from the Adventures of Tintin at some point?

[@mrk131324]

I very much like this Hooper soundtrack, more then later ones from Desplant. Room of Requirements is my favorite piece from the whole franchise. Hooper is so good with winds. If I would listen to it without knowing what it is, I would have guessed Portman.

[@israelRaizer]

Favorite piece from the whole franchise? Have you heard Mischief Managed?

[@dominiquemonestie2361]

thanks a lot for this very interesting analysis.

[@wolfie8748]

It really feels that teenage years feeling.

[@zoltan902]

All I ever think of when listening to this piece is what John Williams would have done differently if he had the gig. Whilst it's competent music, I've always found it to be a kitsch, even clichéd. Thanks as always for this analysis. I look more and more forward to your future uploads.

[@G-0]

I totally agree although I wouldn't go so far as to completely call it cliche as the instrumentation makes it less incredibly cliche like a lot of modern film scores (especially super hero movies).

[@bobgrainier]

couldn't agree more, zoltan. it's just desperately bland.

[@coldhands6648]

I NEED THIS FOR FIREWORKS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I NEED TO KNOW WHY IT'S SO ADDICTING AND MOTIVATING

[@jean_mollycutpurse_winchester]

God! I LOVE this piece. It's too short though. ☹️

[@generalgreninjaandknockout4182]

i needed this for my analysing assesment task lesgo full marks hahaha

[@MattHawkenMusic]

OK, so first off I've heard/read that Nick didn't have a great time scoring this film. Also, imagine being asked to fill in for Williams. So let's not blast him too hard. That said, this is so kitsch that it wouldn't sound out of place in the Great British Bake Off.

[@mdmf117]

I get your point however, I do believe Nicholas Hooper's scores brought something new to the table, and showed musical evolution just as much as Hogwarts and the kids evolved. I see the musical score as a development that goes hand in hand with that of the story. Obviously Nicholas hooper had a close to impossible task of filling John William's shoes and he could have gone the easy way of adapting the already present music. Instead he created new themes that sometimes brought something memorable - e.g Fireworks or even the ending theme from Order of the Phoenix. You cannot say the same about what Alexandre Desplat did unfortunately, as much of a respectable film composer he is.

[@adam4757]

Agreed. It is so generic and mind-numbingly boring.

[@CosmicTeapot]

​@@mdmf117 I get your point but why oh why did he ever think it would be fitting to put electric guitar in a Harry Potter film? This is not musical evolution, it's musical sabotage.

[@KarMa-lx6oq]

Nicolas Hooper is so underrated.

[@dpetrov32]

the harp part is wrong, you can clearly hear it oscillating between E and D in bars 26 nad 28

[@jmisolis]

There´s a lot of magic in this piece...

[@adrianmertinez419]

I love harry Potter thank you for Song😍😍

[@neutralamity]

order of the phoenix is underrated in every aspect

[@noahjones4266]

@FilmScoreAnalysis isn’t that a half cadence at the end since it goes to the M V chord? I thought plagal was a cadence that ended with a M IV chord

[@satchmo1991]

Maybe I'm misreading your comment, but a plagal cadence is IV - I. This is sometimes referred to as the "Amen cadence" since it is often sung on those words in religious music. The minor plagal cadence also exists, and it is as you might expect iv - I. Hope this helps!

[@macart5429]

It sounds like a score from Fanastic Beasts 2

[@typo1345]

Could you do 'Quidditch, Third Year'? I've been trying to find sheet music for that one

[@richardhembree2058]

You can buy the music on sheetmusicplus. There is a signature edition of "Prisoner of Azkaban" available that includes that track and other music from the third film such as Marge's Waltz.

[@richardhembree2058]

www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban-sheet-music/5811539

[@carlpowell0]

great piece. thanks for the analysis. i think its a very nice piece. its hard not to compare it to johns previously scored harry films and hear how it feels somewhat less experienced of a piece. non the less it fits the queue

[@brandon.allison]

People in the comments need to stop comparing the music of Hooper to that of Williams. Hooper and Williams write with a completely different style and have a completely different vision for how they composed for the films. Hooper is a mood-setter. His writing is simple and sounds "cliche" because that's kind of the point. A good example is Umbridge's theme. He wrote her theme to be as annoying and cliche as possible in order to set up the mood of her character. His writing may not be as "complex" as Williams's music, but it doesnt have to be. Sometimes writing a simple piece of music is what is needed to set the mood. Williams writes music based on the characters present and the setting of the scene. I.e. Voldemort's theme everytime Voldemort's mentioned or visible, the Friendship theme whenever Harry is supported by Ron and Hermione (and others), adding woodwind/string flourishes to highlight the magic of the wizarding world, etc. Comparing these 2 composers is like comparing a sports broadcaster to a meteorologist. Both may work in the same kind of field and do similar things, but they have different priorities (sports vs weather). For the record, Nicholas Hooper is personally my favorite composer of the franchise, not Williams. Dumbledore's Farewell is my #1 Harry potter piece because of it's deep-rooted similarities to Adagio for Strings. Dumbledore's Army is in my top 5 as well.

[@bradfrey]

Rectify this, harrypotter.wikia.com.

[@patrickweis1852]

I wouldn't call it a "slow, tender variation", but Hedwig's theme is indeed referenced in bar 5 of this piece. If we take only the 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, and 8th notes of the Celeste in the opening 4 bars of Hedwig's theme, raise the last (the 8th) note a half step from F# to G, we are left with what is in bar 5 of this piece. It's a stretch, but it's in there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z33MYYaNodyYaZY

[@typo1345]

Can you please transcribe Walk and Stalk from Zootopia or Main Titles from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory please?

[@milesrout]

It's a wiki. YOU rectify it.

[@radekbroda3869]

can you send a score to this piece because i cant find it anywhere

[@MusicArrDRO]

Here the Score: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYWrnZuGpdifjdk You can buy here: payhip.com/b/uTYZ

[@jb1980ist]

Yeah, all this pretty much does for me is outline how much better of a composer Williams is (and Doyle and Desplat).

[@normietwiceremoved]

Crazy thing though, this ain't Williams! It was Nicholas Hooper!

[@peterfischer494]

You clearly didn't get the comment...

[@normietwiceremoved]

Ah I see, okay, well I'll stand my ground and say that I like Nicholas Hooper anyway.

[@lucasgagliardi433]

It's nice, but sounds too summery at times for the concept its trying to represent. It would have been more apropiate if this was made for the first couple of movies, but in the 5th one sounds naive

[@supremetuna]

and then Umbridge BOMBADA MAXIMA

[@karinakirstein5907]

🔥💖🔥

[@lachlanforde640]

By far my favourite piece from the franchise

[@mattburridge8352]

Rectify this HarryPotter.wikia.com or we’re through.

[@emanuelebossi1355]

Its wonderful how the "same film" leads to such masterpiece like john williams scores, and a "routine secondary cue" like this one. As a composer myself i have to be worried when find myself doing such lifeless compositions while scoring. Good lessons for all of us. I mean HUGE DIFFERENCE we can make with music.

[@MusicArrDRO]

Here the score!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYWrnZuGpdifjdk

[@MattMinecraft4]

I didn't care much for the overall OotP soundtrack, it had a couple of good moments, but Hooper did something great with this theme. OotP as a film altogether was just hard for me to enjoy, so obviously the score was less memorable, but this theme is very fitting. Hooper at his best in my opinion.

[@PuffyOne1898]

This piece really makes me feel(for lack of a better term) the magic of the wizarding world.

[@macprofire]

Judging from how Desplat‘s competence was wasted on the last „Potter“ and the very mediocre music for the „Fantastic Beasts“ films I have the strong feeling that David Yates is, in my opinion, not only not too good a director but doesn’t have any sense for music at all. He really seems to asking for particularly standard and sub-standard, cliché music.

[@jakegearhart]

Fantastic Beasts has good music but Yates is definitely not helping anyone. The Fantastic Beasts' main theme was originally going to use Newt's theme but David Yates wanted it to be that annoying ostinato that we got instead.

[@adam4757]

Hooper did the best he could and this score is fine. Serves its purpose I guess. But it is NOTHING on the musical complexity of his predecessor John Williams, and even to some extent Patrick Doyle.

[@krzysztofratajski2806]

There was no MAGIC nor MYSTERY after the 3d movie..because there was no John Williams

[@CommanderGinyu]

Wow is this piece boring. Bland instrumentation, unoriginal melody, overly simple and uninspired harmony (just I, IV, V) and no layers or textures. The music may fit ok within the seven but when the music stands alone it becomes clear how hollow and shallow this piece really is...

[@joshberkin5567]

Just because it's not complicated or layered means it's bad. I love this piece. It's one of my favorites which I guess isn't a popular opinion among sophisticated music theorists

[@CommanderGinyu]

josh berkin that’s not really the reason I don’t like this piece. I simply think its boring. The melody doesn’t have any tension or build-up. There is no clear structure which makes it feel empty and unfinished at times. Moreover it’s not even that memorable. You never feel anything while listening. It just goes by. The fact that instrumentation harmony and melody are simple and minimalistic has nothing to do with my dislike. Heck, mozart can repeat the same note 5 times and make it far more interesting than this one (ending of piano concerto 21. 2nd movement) I bet if you gave him this material (harmony, orchestra, and motives) it would be a masterpiece. It’s a shame because the frame work has potential but he does so little with it. Compare this to Williams. He takes two 3rd related minor chords and creates on eod the most famous pieces in film history. No one remembers this one though

[@AlexLewiss]

Great piece, and really well orchestrated :)

[@alagneau]

Lukas Gigler I totally get your point, sounds more as an ost for a random Christmas television film than a score write for a hollywood movie. Nothing bad about that, but it's just so random and unoriginal. If this is great, every music in "Wizards of Waverly Place" or "Every witch way" is consequently great ! By the way, "Every witch way" sounds more Hollywood and Potter than Hooper... kzbin.info/www/bejne/qp-almynp5lrbLs