James Hannigan: Get To Potions
Context
Award-winning composer and creative director James Hannigan has composed a vast amount of video game music. His works have been featured in The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter Warhammer and Wing Commander game series, plus also in games such as Sim Theme Park, The Darkening, RuneScape amongst a wealth of others. Hannigan has worked closely with games giant EA Sports to compose the title music for the FIFA and F1 series.
As well as video games, Hannigan has also composed music for TV, including Top Gear, The Grand Tour and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. Hannigan’s scores have been nominated five times to win a BAFTA, with Hannigan’s score for Sim Theme Park (Theme Park World) winning the Electronic Arts Award in 2000. His 2010 score for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won an International Film Music Critics Association Award.
Get To Potions features on the 2009 video game soundtrack for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
The Music
Composed for orchestra, Get To Potions encapsulates the magic of the original music from the Harry Potter saga. The opening flute theme soon builds in texture as more instruments join in. The underlying string drone stays prominent throughout much of the short piece. The melody blooms and is accentuated by tuned percussion and harp. The melody is taken by the winds, with the strings accompanying with short bursts of sounds.
The atmosphere of the piece is light-hearted and the bouncy rhythms play into this effectively. Hannigan keeps the melody moving around the orchestra, with it never staying in one place for too often. The horn and flute duet in the middle shows the signs of the end in sight as the orchestra unifies before the delicate finish.
Ⓒ Alex Burns
Happy Reading!
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