Alexandre Desplat -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

9/10

Movie Soundtracks are usually pretty hit and miss. Sometimes what works at the theater under an 80-foot screen doesn't work as an isolated listening experience. Alexandre Desplat's soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1 works quite well in both situations. The largest factor in its success is movement. Even in the more quiet moments there is a propulsion and complexity of themes that keeps the listener engaged. The loud moments are also as thrilling as they should be. In addition to his own work, Desplat wisely brings back some of his predecessor's themes, most notably snippet's of John Williams' Hedwig's theme. Sequencing is also nicely done, more or less following the music's chronological appearance in the film with few changes. There is also a nice subtle build throughout the soundtrack to the theme of the Hallows themselves, which is suitably mysterious and exotic, with a dash of Spanish guitar and flute to make it a little different from everything that has come before:

Most importantly, Desplat accurately transposes the emotions of the film into music, all of the menace, magic, sadness, joy, and desperation. This soundtrack not only adds to the film it supports, it also transports the film into the imaginations of listeners anywhere they and their headphones can go.

2010 Watertower Music
1. Obliviate 3:02
2. Snape to Malfoy Manor 1:58
3. Polyjuice Potion 3:32
4. Sky Battle 3:48
5. At the Burrow 2:35
6. Harry and Ginny 1:43
7. The Will 3:39
8. Death Eaters 3:14
9. Dobby 3:49
10. Ministry of Magic 1:46
11. Detonators 2:23
12. The Locket 1:52
13. Fireplaces Escape 2:54
14. Ron Leaves 2:35
15. The Exodus 1:37
16. Godric's Hollow Graveyard 3:15
17. Bathilda Bagshot 3:54
18. Hermione's Parents 5:50
19. Destroying the Locket 1:10
20. Ron's Speech 2:16
21. Lovegood 3:27
22. The Deathly Hallows 3:17
23. Captured and Tortured 2:56
24. Rescuing Hermione 1:50
25. Farewell to Dobby 3:43
26. The Elder Wand 1:38