Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Now that we have that out of the way...

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was all about variations from the original film. Not only did our beloved actor who portrayed Dumbledore get replaced by a not as beloved actor who portrayed Dumbledore, but John Williams left the composition squad to write music for Star Wars. In the fourth movie, Patrick Doyle is introduced as the new composer and with him brought a new musical style into the series. Doyle would also be the only composer to only compose music for one of the movies and not multiple.

In looking specifically at Hedwig's theme, The Goblet of Fire is the first of the movies not to use the familiar theme immediately when the movie started. The theme is brought into the composition altered from the original versions around :56 once the full title is brought onto the screen.

This is different than the first three movies before which all played Hedwig's theme simultaneously with the film starting.

*wait what?*

While all the movies are dark in nature, Doyle in his arrangement of Hedwig's theme uses dissonance and instrumentation to make a remarkable change from the original three movies. The subject matter of this movie is darker than the preceding films, and Doyle uses the music to help convey that darkness to the audience.

Let's see how Hedwig's Theme was used throughout the movie:

Instance #1:
Outside of the title sequence, the initial occurrence of the leitmotif is found when the three main characters are on the train to Hogwarts. The theme begins playing when Harry asks his owl, Hedwig, to deliver a letter to Sirius Black. Even though the theme isn't always brought up when Hedwig is present, it does pay some homage to where the theme was composed by John Williams.

The motive is defiantly noticeable and is in the forefront of the scene. The theme is played during a transitional scene.

Instance #2:
The second instance of Hedwig's Theme is after Ron and Harry make up and they enter into the dining hall. The significance of the leitmotif playing here is that there are owls flying around the dining hall. Doyle choosing to use the leitmotif here is significant as well as symbolic of the situation.  The leitmotif leads into Harry checking out his crush Cho Chang. 

The motive is harder to hear than the last theme, but is still recognizable. I would say that it is between being in the forefront and the background.

Also, the leitmotif anticipates this very important scene:

*derp*

Instance #3:
The third and final time the Hedwig's Theme returned was at the end of the credits. Played with more string instruments, this return of the leitmotif set the tone of resolution more than the others had. The leitmotif was only played for an instant before Doyle introduced a new theme. 

This is obviously in the forefront of the film because it is welcoming the audience into the credits. This recognizable theme shows the audience that the film is finished.

Final Thoughts:
One thing I found interesting in looking at the Hedwig's Theme leitmotif was that it was only present during the lighter scenes. Doyle only seemed to include it at the beginning and end when the lighter topics were happening. Hedwig's Theme was completely absent in the scene of Voldemort's return.

Thanks for reading! Have a magical day :)



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