''Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' is the

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

to the 2016 film of the same name, composed by James Newton Howard. A limited edition vinyl was first released on 4 November 2016. The soundtrack was later released in both digital and physical formats on 18 November 2016 by

WaterTower Music WaterTower Music (formerly New Line Records from 2000 to 2010) is an American record label serving as the in-house music label and run by entertainment company Warner Bros., ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The name and logo are based ...

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. 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 composers John Williams,

Patrick Doyle Patrick Doyle (born 6 April 1953) is a Scottish film composer with Irish heritage. A longtime collaborator of actor-director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work composing for films such as ''Henry V'', '' Sense and Sensibility'', ''Haml ...

Nicholas Hooper Nicholas Hooper is a British film and television composer and guitarist. He has scored the award-winning BBC productions '' Land of the Tiger'' and '' Andes to Amazon'', as well as the TV movies ''The Girl in the Café'' and ''My Family and Other ...

and

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films '' The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and '' The Shape of Water'' ...

. In an interview with

Pottermore Wizarding World Digital is the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J. K. Rowling regarding the Wizarding World. The site featu ...

, 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. The score was conducted by Pete Anthony with a 97-piece of the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...

and was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, with orchestrations provided by Anthony, Jeff Atmajian, Peter Boyer, Chris Egan, Jim Honeyman, Philip Klein, Jon Kull and John Ashton Thomas. The score was mixed by Shawn Murphy.

Track listing

All tracks are composed and performed by James Newton Howard. All tracks are composed and performed by James Newton Howard, except where noted.

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 soundtrack albums Fantasy film soundtracks London Symphony Orchestra soundtracks WaterTower Music soundtracks Wizarding World music Fantastic Beasts