SnitchSeeker.com - Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I limited collector's soundtrack

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A six-note soft and sad piece of music sets the mood and theme for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I, but for the first time in the series, it's not John Williams' 'Hedwig's Theme'. The horns humming the recognisable tune for 'Obliviate', the first track of the Deathly Hallows: Part I score, by Alexandre Desplat (who will also be scoring the second half next summer), in a nutshell announces that this will be a different Harry Potter movie - one more sombre, more heartbreaking - as it is the background for when Hermione Granger says goodbye to her parents and childhood - and more hopeful than its six predecessors.

For the most part, the Deathly Hallows: Part I soundtrack, like the movie, is dark and haunting in tone. There are a few uplifting and somewhat almost jovial tracks, such as 'Polyjuice Potion' (where Hedwig's Theme is first heard), 'Detonators', and 'Lovegood', the latter of which sounds like something out of a Middle Eastern harem - alluring and forbidden all at once.

'Obliviate' resonates through some of the darker songs, most of which, if anyone has seen the movie, shadows sequences where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are running from the law, Voldemort, and worst of all, each other. Their pains, frustrations, and suffering are reflected beautifully by Desplat's music, non moreso than 'Ron Leaves', 'Godric's Hollow Graveyard', and 'Dobby'.

The rush of fast-paced music runs with the action-packed sequences ranging from 'Sky Battle', 'Fireplaces Escape,' and 'Captured and Tortured'. The music sets in mind that there is an urgency to move, to run, with heart-pounding uncertainty as to where the heroes will go next.

The strongest songs are those based on characters, most notably Dobby the House-elf and Ron Weasley. 'Ron Leaves' plays as a lament, with a slower and more melancholy version of 'Obliviate' playing throughout, perfectly portraying Ron's emotional torment and Hermione's heartache. As a turnaround, 'Ron's Speech' is the sweetest and most gorgeous of love songs, pulling at the heartstrings as the faithful sidekick more or less declares his love to Hermione. Every beat in tune plays in place with every word of adoration and hope from Ron's mouth, which Desplat recorded in perfect synchronisation with the trio's feelings at that moment in the story. 'Dobby' marked the bravery of a small hero, and the utter devastation over his death.

Desplat's soundtrack was strengthened in being able to capture the emotions and nuances of the three leads as they try to find a place to be safe, to feel as if they belong somewhere in the world - wizarding or otherwise, and overall, to work out a way to fulfill their mission.

There are six extra tracks featured on the limited box. 'Voldemort', the first track on the bonus CD, begins slowly, almost menacingly, and blares up to a loud and ominous end. 'Grimmauld Place', the second tune, captures the loom and doom the trio are feeling, with a hint of a sinister nature. 'The Dumbledores', although not featured very much in the movie itself, has a stronger, louder version of 'Ron Leaves' featured in it, and plays like a heartbeat, thumping with each almost melancholy note. 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' begins hauntingly, as though thousands of lost and forgotten voices come together, crying and screeching from afar for recognition, which is chilling to the bone, then continues on with the rest of 'Lovegood' from the original soundtrack. 'Bellatrix', like the slightly mad character, is fast-paced, rushed, with harsh strings playing against the banging of drums, then slows down, almost chillingly, to a slight calm. 'My Love is Always Here' is presumably the hymn sung at Godric's Hollow when Harry and Hermione visited, with sad and slow rhythms that perfectly match the feeling of isolation the pair feeling by Christmas time, and readying the viewer up to Harry's heartbreaking encounter with his parents' gravesite.

The square-foot glossy box set comes with a 7 inch-vinyl record of the original soundtrack; side A shows the one sheet for the Part I, while side B has a photo of Hogwarts on fire. There is an incredible film cell added into the collector's mix, featuring a very vivid and clear image of Harry and Voldemort facing off in the forest for Part II - though the aspect ratio for the photos are a bit off and both characters' faces and bodies are a bit stretched. The third CD features an extended look at the making of the score, where Desplat and his orchestra record some of the more notable tracks at famed Abbey Road Studios, along with inside thoughts from producers David Heyman and David Barron.

Not only for die-hard Harry Potter fans, but music aficionados, the limited edition collector's set of the Deathly Hallows: Part I soundtrack is a must-have, although a bit pricey given its contents. Even still, some of the pieces of the set are completely exclusive to it, and to be one of the ten thousand to own them does have its merits.

The soundtrack is now on sale and can be purchased at the WBShop Online, or on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. The limited collector's box set also can be pre-ordered at the WBShop Online or on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.