Harry Potter and the SSO

Angus Burton, Eloise Sorensen, Shelby Hodge, Archie & Oscar Crossley-Meates get into the spirit.  Photo: Wolter Peeters/SMH

By Elissa Blake

When Angus Burton, 8, hears the tinkling Hedwig’s Theme from the Harry Potter movies it gives him the shivers. “It makes me feel like there is magic all around me,” he says. “As soon as you hear that music you know straight away that it’s Harry Potter. The music makes the movie more interesting.”

Oscar Crossley-Meates, 9, likes the dramatic music the best. “I love the music when Harry and Voldemort are fighting,” he says. He does have a few criticisms, though.

“Sometimes they put the music in the wrong place,” he says. “Like when they are all running towards Hagrid’s cottage. They don’t need music there. I’d rather have sound effects of the stones crunching under their feet, or the owl making a sound, or maybe Voldemort whispering in someone’s ear.”

Burton and Crossley-Meates will be among hundreds of kids attending the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s live concerts of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone staged at the Sydney Opera House, watching the SSO musicians perform the film’s John Williams score live as the movie screens.

It is the most successful movie concert series the SSO has presented to date, with all six concerts close to sold out.

Williams has written some of the most iconic music for film ever composed. His themes for Jaws, Superman and Star Wars are among the most recognisable pieces of music on the planet.

He’s one of the true masters,” says Justin Freer, the co-founder and producer of CineConcerts, an American company specialising in the presentation of films with the soundtracks played live by leading orchestras.

“Williams is able to tip his hat in so many directions – to the avant-garde, to the music of the 17^th and 18^th centuries - but what you hear is always his unique voice, always his very personal take on things.”

Freer has conducted the scores to Harry Potter films in cities across the United States. “I love seeing the audience come in costume,” he says. “It makes the concert experience really unique. I’ve learned that Harry Potter are not only very loyal but very creative and authentic.”

Even for those Potter fans who have seen the films many times on the big and small screen, the live orchestral experience will pack a few surprises, says Freer. 

“The sheer amount of music in the film and the role it plays in the storytelling becomes known to you,” Freer explains. “Plus you are having the music thrown at you by the 80 or 90 musicians. But I think the most important thing is that you are surrounded by thousands of your peers, friends and family. There is a communal aspect to these concerts that is really important. When you share the experience like this, it makes the familiar feel very new.”

Freer believes we are in a new golden age of movie music, one that rivals that of the 1940s-1960s, when composers such as Erick Korngold, Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann and Elmer Bernstein were working in Hollywood. Williams’ music will live on in the same way, he says.

“All music reflects the moment it is composed in but some music is remembered because it is great and I think this particular score will be remembered.”

Masters Burton and Crossley-Meates are very excited. Burton has been teaching himself to play Hedwig’s Theme. “I can play the first little bit on the piano,” he says.

Crossley-Meates can’t wait to see the film again – for the umpteenth time.

“When you look at the screen and you hear the music, you just know something is going to happen, something is going to go wrong,” he says. “That makes it more exciting.”

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with Live Orchestra is screened at the Sydney Opera House, April 27 – May 1

This story was first published in The Sun-Herald on April 23, 2017.