Additional Music & Arrangements by Batu Sener, Anthony Willis & Paul Mounsey Supervising Orchestrator: John Ashton Thomas Orchestrators: Tommy Laurence, Geoff Lawson, Andrew Kinney, Randy Kerber, Jon Kull & Rick Giovinazzo Music Editor: Jack Dolman Solo Vocals: Jónsi & Dee Lewis Clay Celtic Harp: Maeve Gilchrist Ethnic Woodwinds: Jan Hendrickse Bodhran: Kieran Leonard Bagpipes: Lorne MacDougall, Craig Munro, Craig Muirhead & Kyle Howie as Red Hot Chilli Pipers Uilleann Pipes: Calum Stewart Additional Drum Programming: Satnam Ramgotra
Orchestra Conducted by Gavin Greenaway Orchestra Leader: Emlyn Singleton Orchestra Contracted by Susie Gillis for Isobel Griffiths Ltd.
Choir Conducted by Eric Whitacre Choir Contracted by Music Productions Gaelic Adviser & Vocal Coach: Julie Fowlis
Music Preparation by Mark Graham & Gregory Jamrok at JoAnn Kane Music Service Score Recorded by Nick Wollage Choir Recorded by Pete Cobbin Additional Engineering by Lewis Jones Score Mixer: Shawn Murphy Additional Mixing: John Traunwieser Scoring Editor: David Channing Digital Score Recordist: Erik Swanson Score Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London (October 15-23, 2018)
Stage Recordists: Matt Jones & Daniel Hayden Score Mixed at 5 Cat Studios, Los Angeles
Score Production Assistant: John Michael Caldwell Album Mastered by Patricia Sullivan at Bernie Grundman Mastering
Executive in Charge of Music for Universal Pictures: Mike Knobloch Music Supervised for Universal Pictures: Natalie Hayden Music Business Affairs for Universal Pictures: Tanya Perara Production for Back Lot Music: Andy Kalyvas Marketing for Back Lot Music: Nikki Walsh
John Powell wishes to thank: Dean DeBlois, Brad Lewis, Bonnie Arnold, Chris Defaria, Chris Sanders, Cressida Cowell, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mike Knobloch, Natalie Hayden, Nikki Walsh, Marisa Torbert, Jerry Schmitz, Andy Kalyvas, Jónsi, Gavin Greenaway, Dominic Lewis, James McKee Smith, John Ashton Thomas, Eric Whitacre, Maeve Gilchrist, George Doering, Laura Engel, Richard Kraft, Mark Graham, Kathleen McInnes, Marie Christine Macaulay, Julie Fowlis, Nancy Buchanan & Juliette Hohnen
Dedicated to Melinda Lerner & Oliver Powell
Special Thanks: Kristin Lowe, Michael Moses, Dwight Caines, Jim Gallagher, Richard Laforge, Casandra Tuttle, Greig McRitchie, Andrew Birch, David Yanover, Lauren Martin, Ruthie Wittenberg, Newell Todd, Cendy Younan, Corrine Overend, Mark Giammarco, Terra Hatch, Dean O'Connnor, Nicki Richards, Marcus Tamkin & Bridget Ward
When starting on How To Train Your Dragon - The Hidden World, I became aware of how I had spent a very happy part of my life making these movies. The first installment brought me into contact with the wonderful Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, and I was excited finally being able to do a film on my own for Jeffrey Katzenberg at DreamWorks Animation. These are maybe the reasons I worked a little harder on that first score or maybe the Celtic sounding nature of the film meants that I was basically falling off a childhood log, musically speaking. However it happened, it all seemed to click and we were off and running.
The second film was a chance to revisit Cressida Cowell's wonderful world again allowing me to help mature her childhood characters a little in the music. As they dealt with the changes of adolescence and the difficulties of love and death, I was able to expand my vocabulary and try to create a stronger meaning within the thematic material; love, loss, leadership, and how to be an Alpha :) Now, as I create the music for the last adventures for our beloved heroes, both human and dragon, I find parallels in my own life within the story; as I hope many other people will.
My wish is that this score will continue the ideas, ethos and joy of life that I was always trying to put into the previous films but with a nod to my own transitions; a life enjoyed to the fullest with friends and family, where those who have been important will always be with us in someway. John Powell
Release date : 02/01/2018
Raiders Return To Busy, Busy Berk (5:27) John Powell, Paul Mounsey
Dinner Talk - Grimmel's Introduction (3:53) John Powell, Batu Sener
Legend Has It - Cliffside Playtime (4:21) John Powell, Batu Sener
Toothless: Smitten (3:16) John Powell, Batu Sener
Worst Pep Talk Ever (2:40) John Powell
Night Fury Killer (3:36) John Powell, Batu Sener, Paul Mounsey
Exodus! (4:38) John Powell, Anthony Willis
Third Date (6:49) John Powell
New "New Tail" (1:28) John Powell, Anthony Willis
Furies In Love (3:03) John Powell
Killer Dragons (5:05) John Powell, Batu Sener
With Love Comes A Great Waterfall (2:08) John Powell
The Hidden World (5:16) John Powell, Paul Mounsey, Jónsi
Armada Battle (8:40) John Powell, Batu Sener, Anthony Willis
As Long As He's Safe (6:29) John Powell
Once There Were Dragons (5:45) John Powell
Together From Afar - Jonsi (3:17)
The Hidden World Suite (Digital Bonus Track) (6:40) John Powell
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Powell has his personal reasons, but I sincerely hope he comes around to do another superhero score again, especially for MARVEL since his style isn’t fit for the likes of DC as of now.
Edmund Meinerts
2020-01-28 23:55:33
The films Powell is currently choosing allow him to write much more interesting music than your average Marvel movie... ;)
Excited for Call of the Wild in a few weeks.
Iamtommie44
2020-01-29 07:15:44
As much as I think that the choice of movie Powell makes, which up till now have created amazing scores, I do wish we'd get more than 1 score of his every year. Even if the quality is like Solo or The Hidden World
Anthony Willis (additional composer on HTTYD 2 & 3) just wrote a nice score for HTTYD Homecoming, a "christmas special" short. The score is based on Powell's themes and style, which is a nice addition to the trilogy.
You can listen to excerpts here : https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/exclusive-music-clips-h ow-to-train-your-dragon-homecoming-holiday-special/
Edmund Meinerts
2019-12-08 20:33:00
Yeah, it's a nice little mini HTTYD score. It's a bit frustrating that he's seemingly never allowed to develop an idea for very long before moving on to the next thing and the next (probably because of the pacing of the short), but I like the way he plays around with Powell's themes. It makes me think that if they ever decide to make a fourth HTTYD movie and Powell decides he's said all he has to say in the series, Willis would be a good choice to continue it (Zanelli/Pirates style).
The FYC came out for this. Unfortunately, it's missing two entire tracks from the film. An extended "Busy, Busy Berk", and the film version of "Furies Captured" (which at least had a YouTube upload of the alternate version).
Guess we'll have to hope for a complete/recording sessions leak for everything else.
Edmund Meinerts
2019-11-22 21:02:51
Really gutted that the FYC is out but it's missing the one moment from the score I really wanted, the statement of the Alpha theme from HTTYD2. Wonder why Powell and his crew seem to be going out of their way to prevent that from being heard...something about pre-existing material, maybe? But why just that theme and not the dozens of others? Weird.
Daric Shire
2019-11-23 06:48:51
You're forgetting the Celtic folk music that plays during the feast scene after they had arrived at "New Berk". Really eager to be able to actually hear that.
And yeah, shame they didn't put "Furies Captured" on it. Really like that one.
Satisfied with "Near Miss Valka" and "Stronger Together" finally being released though.
John Powell mentioned on his Instagram that a surprise album will be released this Friday. On the picture that comes with it, it looks like it is something from Happy Feet!
Additionally, for anyone interested, I've managed to come up with a final list of themes from the series that I believe to be mostly accurate.
HTTYD 1: Hiccup & Toothless, The Friendship ostinato, Viking Theme, Viking "B" Theme, Dragons, Berk, The Dragon Tamer (Hiccup's unique qualities), Vikings & Dragons, Astrid
HTTYD 2: Loss, Exploration/Hiccup's Maturance, Drago, Hiccup & Valka, The Alpha, Stoick & Valka, The Chief
HTTYD 3: The Furies ostinato, Love, The Dragon Liberators, Moving On, The Hidden World, Toothless & The Light Fury, Grimmel, Dragon Trappers
A list more impressive than Star Wars, and with almost every new theme returning for the next film, while keeping most of the base themes. A masterful achievement by John Powell and his crew, as others have said!
Edmund Meinerts
2019-06-14 00:36:31
There's so, so many great themes in the HTTYD scores. And he almost never lets a moment go by where he isn't stating or restating or developing one or more of them (although honestly that's true of a ton of Powell's scores and not an exclusive feature of HTTYD). You can never get bored listening to these, there's always something interesting around the next corner.
Ian Brown McCarthy
2019-06-14 01:54:11
Yeah, Jesus. This is a prime example of why I'm tempted to think John Powell is more talented than even Williams (yes, I went there).
Mephariel
2019-06-14 06:40:37
Love John Powell. But he is not even close to Williams. Williams made his mark on every genre of film scoring. He freaking turn a holocaust movie score into a masterpiece for the ages.
Today, that score would have been some generic sound design.
Powell is an incredibly gifted orchestral composer. But he doesn't have the dimensions of someone like Williams.
The longer 2019 goes on, the more I think Hidden World might end up being my favorite score of the year. It just keeps growing on me. And unless Lion King or Star Wars 9 are the best possible versions of themselves, I don't see anything else on the schedule that is likely to eclipse it.
HTTYD is, amazingly, almost up there with Star Wars and Lord of the Rings in terms of the greatest thematic development in a multi-film series.
superultramegaa
2019-06-12 20:02:12
Got to agree. The score for this series is polished, precise, emotional, technically proficient, and thematically rich. Not much else this year has been anywhere close to the level of quality in The Hidden World.
Sadly though, I don't see either Lion King or Star Wars 9 beating this score. From the look of the trailer, Lion King's music is probably just going to be on repeat with a few additional original tracks here and there, and the new Star Wars trilogy is plagued with temp tracks, and uninteresting progression.
So I haven't watched this film so I can't speak to what the themes mean here, but I need a little bit of help with the themes of the first 2.
This is the list of themes as I know them: Hiccup's Theme (Flying) - HTTYD 1 Berk Theme - HTTYD 1 Viking Theme - HTTYD 1 Evil Dragon Theme - HTTYD 1 Friendship Ostinato - HTTYD 1 Astrid - HTTYD 1 Secondary Viking Theme/Viking Teens - HTTYD 1 Toothless/Good Alpha - HTTYD 2 Drago - HTTYD 2 Evil Alpha - HTTYD 2 Exploration - HTTYD 2 The Chief - HTTYD 2 Valka & Stoick Love / Stoick's Theme - HTTYD 2
However, on this website people have discussed that there might be even more than that, like "Dragon Vigilante" or "Valka", but I have no idea what these themes are if they exist. For most scenes involving Valka, it's either Toothless' theme or Stoick's love theme that plays.
Just saw HTTYD: The Hidden World!! For me, a perfect way to complete a trilogy!! Absolutely loved it. All 3 movies are great and get better each time.
Them the score: I don't know how Powell does it. With these 3 scores he's definitely (re)defined writing thematic music again. It's orchestral. He uses themes from the first 2 movies and adds a few new themes that are just as memorable. I think there is about 20 minutes if score missing. So hoping to a good FYC. But just like with the other 2 scores. A great album representation!!
Loved every bit of the this trilogy and very sad it's over.
Still need to listen through this one....Is it more like the first score or the second? The first was more tuneful and energetic and crowd-pleasing, while the second really upped the complexity/theme development side of things.
Aaron
2019-02-03 05:40:49
The way you described them, it's more like the second score. That said, it's surprisingly distinct.
NM
2019-02-03 22:46:19
It's very different to both of the other ones and definitely the best of the three. I found this one managed to improve the orchestration over the (already impressive) second one, while also having accessible, memorable themes and motifs that didn't take as long to "click" as the usual Powell stuff.
Is that true about John Powell and additional score by Kay-S is Brian Tyler Team's new composer will score Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw Movie. If it's true, then it's a great news. I bet John Powell's music might sound like Bourne music or new styles of spy or action music like that.
Solid work. Its ought to satisfy anyone who's been yearning for a solid symphonic score.
For the most part it seems to me that with this one Powell aimed more for technical mastery and complexity than going for that tangible sense of innocence, intrigue and fun that made the very first film and its score special. I am not saying this third score lacks those elements, but they are certainly not in full display like they were in the very first score.
In a broader sense, it appears that just about everyone is taking everything way too seriously these days. As much as I miss solid symphonic scores myself, I miss the "fun" side of film scores more.
I recommend to everybody How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World by John Powell!!! It's an amazing orchestral score with new AND continuing themes from previous 2 movies. The choral work is amazing! My favorite cues are: - Legend Has It / Cliffside Platytime (one of the most beautiful tracks Powell has ever written!) - Exodus! - Third Date (So much fun!!!!!) - Furies In Love (Equal to Flying With Mother & See You Tomorrow - The Hidden World (Beautiful choral Work) - Armada Battle (Captures all themes from all 3 movies!!!) - As Long As He's Safe - Once There Were Dragons (Beautiful ending!!!) - The Hidden World Suite
Hmmm... the new theme that appears in "Legend Has It", "Exodus" and "As Long as He's Safe" is heartbreaking and and among the highlights of the franchise. The love theme is wonderful too. And some of the orchestration is top class: a mastery of the orchestra which rivals the best composers.
But I don't know, did anyone else find this a bit disjointed in places? The "Armada Battle" is just exhausting and even though I recognised all the themes and motifs it wasn't fun to listen to - clipping from one thing to the next every few seconds with no transition. I thought it'd be the highlight of the score but it's probably the worst track on the album. It probably works great in the film, I imagine.
I feel like “The Hidden World” cue is going to steal the show here. Combining Jonsi’s vocals with the choir and orchestra was a genius move, it sounds almost hypnotic. And of course “Furies in Love”...
BerkianWarrior
2019-01-15 05:11:02
For sure!! Omg I honestly can't wait for this one, we where gonna get 2 songs for httyd 2 featuring Jonsi, but they stuck with "Flying with Mother" instead. I really would have liked to see Jonsi put lyrics to "romantic flight" for a hiccup and astrid wedding scene. Make it peaceful and sad :'( Love these movies so much. I feel like watching them and listening to their scores brings back the 11 year old in me, obsessed with orchestra and dragons. A total nerd. I miss those days where everything was filled with magic, and John Powell's scores were at the center of it all <3
mpolonest123
2019-01-19 23:10:42
So having seen the film I can say that this is tonally the most mature score of the series. The old themes all get their moment to shine, but surprisingly are used far less than the previous 2. There also seem to be some temped moments, with one scene using portions of “Battle of the Bewilderbeast” and so on. It will be interesting to see what is missing from the album.
In terms of new stuff, both “The Hidden World” cue and the “Fury Love Theme” are obviously the standouts. Especially in the way they develop throughout. And without spoiling anything, there are some beautiful choral moments in the last 15 minutes. As for the villain material, there wasn’t really anything distinctive that I picked up, which might change with a few listens.
ThePhantasm
2019-01-20 09:14:21
I don't know if it's just me but the music doesn't sound as amazing to me like it did for HTTYD 1 & 2, granted i've only listened to the previews but i did the same for 1 & 2 and it got me hyped. I hope I'm wrong
Ds
2019-01-20 15:32:16
I have to say I'm a little bit disappointed, movie wise and score wise. Although it's a very good score, it seems like all the highlights are when old themes come back. I'll definitely have to check it on album to see if this impression holds up, maybe it's only because I'm overly familiar with those themes, and new ones still have to grow on me (like with litterally every Powell release).
As for the movie, it felt like the charm and beautiful story of #1 have partly been replaced by poor jokes and loads of explosive action. There are moving moments here and there, but overall it left me quite cold.
mpolonest123
2019-01-20 19:20:27
I was never extremely gung ho about any of the films, but I do agree that there feels like a bit of charm was missing from this one. Especially in the tidy way everything wrapped up. I also found the villain to be extremely forgettable, basically a lesser version of Drago. But hey, at least the visuals were great.
And I do partially agree on the score, although I think it is hard to give a fair opinion until the music has actually been released. But while HTTYD1 has all of the best highlights and HTTYD2 (my personal favorite) has the best narrative development, I feel like this one works as a solid score on it’s own. The weakest of the three but still a pretty good score, if that makes sense.
Ds
2019-01-20 21:51:00
That makes perfect sense and I fully agree with you :p
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