The Music of Harry Potter by Mystery Ensemble

Mystery Ensemble are playing John Williams' Harry Potter score at The Great Hall, University of Reading, on Friday 18 December. It's a candlelight concert, so the music is performed live by candlelight rather than under stage lights, and they've arranged the score themselves rather than playing it exactly as it was recorded.

There's a bit of history to the music they're working from. Williams wrote the Harry Potter score at his homes in Los Angeles and Tanglewood, then recorded it at Abbey Road and Air Lyndhurst studios in London in September 2001. The soundtrack came out on 30 October 2001, peaked at number 48 on the Billboard 200 and number two on the Top Soundtracks Chart, and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Music for a Film in 2002. He lost that one to Howard Shore's score for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and that music also features in the programme.

Mystery Ensemble is a group of professional musicians that plays unique programmes in non-standard venues around the UK. They draw on works from different eras, experimental music, tributes, and film and series soundtracks, all in their own arrangements. This fits their usual way of working: taking a well-known score and reworking it for their own ensemble rather than sticking to the original studio version.

The concert starts at 7:30pm on Friday 18 December at The Great Hall, University of Reading, with tickets from £21.17.