Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (soundtrack)

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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fantastic Beasts Standard Sdtk Cover.jpg
Film score by
James Newton Howard
Released4 November 2016 (vinyl)
18 November 2016 (digital/physical)
Recorded2016
StudioAbbey Road Studios
(Westminster, London)
GenreSoundtrack
Length72:00 (Standard edition)
100:00 (Deluxe edition)
LabelWaterTower Music
James Newton Howard chronology
The Huntsman: Winter's War
(2016) 		Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
(2016) 		Detroit
(2017)
Wizarding World soundtrack chronology
Deathly Hallows – Part 2
(2011) 		Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
(2016) 		Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
(2018)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the film score to the 2016 film of the same name, written and composed by James Newton Howard. A limited edition vinyl was first released on 4 November 2016.[1] The soundtrack was later released in both digital and physical formats on 18 November 2016 by WaterTower Music.[2]

Background[]

On 6 April 2016, it was announced that James Newton Howard would be composing the music for the film with veteran Harry Potter director David Yates at the helm and J.K Rowling penning the screenplay.[3] Howard stated that the film posed a "particular challenge" for him as it needed to be different and distinguishable from the previous Harry Potter films which saw iconic themes from acclaimed composer John Williams.[4] In an interview with Pottermore, Howard stated that "it really is a balance of keeping the magic, the slight tension and the comedy. You don’t want it to be too much one way or the other. It’s always a balancing act between things like pace, character point of view, action and humour." Discussions with Yates, suggested that the music should feel "like we’re being invited into a grand adventure".

Howard spent the majority of the time writing the themes at his piano for the main characters. For the character of Newt, he wrote two primary themes, a theme that displays Newt's warm personality and whimsicalness, and a theme for Newt's heroic actions which Howard calls "kind of the big, muscular hero theme". For Jacob, Howard crafted a tune that encompasses "lazy, bluesy 1920s quasi-jazzy kind". There were also themes for the creatures namely, the Erumpent, Demiguise and the Niffler.[5]

The score was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London with a 97-piece London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Pete Anthony, with orchestrations by Jeff Atmajian and Peter Boyer. The score was mixed by Shawn Murphy.

Track listing[]

Standard Edition — Disc One
No.TitleLength
1."Main Titles – Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them"2:56
2."There Are Witches Among Us / The Bank / The Niffler"6:55
3."Tina Takes Newt In / Macusa Headquarters"1:57
4."Pie or Strudel / Escaping Queenie and Tina's Place"3:06
5."Credence Hands Out Leaflets"2:05
6."Inside The Case"9:10
7."The Erumpent"3:30
8."In The Cells"2:12
9."Tina and Newt Trial / Let's Get The Good Stuff Out / You're One of Us Now / Swooping Evil"8:01
10."Gnarlak Negotiations"2:58
11."The Demiguise and The Occamy"4:07
12."A Close Friend"1:52
13."The Obscurus / Rooftop Chase"3:50
14."He's Listening To You Tina"2:07
15."Relieve Him of His Wand / Newt Releases The Thunderbird / Jacob's Farewell"12:34
16."Newt Says Goodbye to Tina / Jacob's Bakery"3:28
17."End Titles – Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them"2:22
Total length:73:00
Deluxe Edition: Bonus — Disc Two
No.TitleLength
1."A Man and His Beasts"8:31
2."Soup and Leaflets"2:20
3."Billywig"1:31
4."The Demiguise and The Lollipop"0:59
5."I’m Not Your Ma"2:05
6."Blind Pig (performed by Emmi)"1:29
7."Newt Talks To Credence"2:13
8."End Titles Pt.2 – Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them"1:22
9."Kowalski Rag"5:13
Total length:25:43

Charts[]

Chart (2016–17) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[6] 68
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[7] 140
French Albums (SNEP)[8] 161
US Billboard 200[9] 192

References[]

  1. ^ "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them: Music From The Motion Picture (Picture Disc LP)". WaterTower Music. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  2. ^ "Exclusive: Pottermore debuts the main theme from the soundtrack for Fantastic Beasts". Pottermore. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  3. ^ Levine, Nick (9 April 2016). "'Fantastic Beasts': James Newton Howard to score JK Rowling's 'Harry Potter' spin-off". NME. BandLab Technologies. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ Lapin, Andrew (3 July 2017). "James Newton Howard On Why 'Fantastic Beasts' Was So Hard to Score And Why He's Going On Tour". IndieWire. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  5. ^ "How composer James Newton Howard soundtracked Fantastic Beasts". Pottermore. 18 November 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2020 – via Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack / James Newton Howard – Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Soundtrack / James Newton Howard – Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 47, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  9. ^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
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