How to Train Your Dragon (soundtrack)

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Sibelius was the key. I studied a lot of Sibelius as a kid, and I've always adored his music. So that, plus it was great to have Jónsi do a song at the end of the movie, because I've always liked Sigur Rós. They were an influence as well, even though that seems paradoxical. But there is that in a few

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Powell states that he "presents almost all his themes within the first five minutes of the film". "Hiccup's Theme" is introduced immediately in the film version of "This is Berk", played by brass; this theme is often accompanied by an eighth note ostinato (Toothless' Theme), for example shortly into

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said: "I sincerely hope that Powell’s work will be rewarded with an Oscar in 2011. It couldn’t be more deserved—the score is by far the best of the year to date, and I can’t foresee any other score taking that accolade from this masterpiece." Both reviewers named it as the Best Score of the Year.

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About one minute into the original opening version of "This is Berk", the music modulates via fast triplet arpeggios into the "warring Vikings" theme, which has Scottish influences. At about 3:15, the "fun Vikings" theme is first introduced on solo clarinet backed by pizzicato strings. Warpipes

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2011 Awards for Best Original Score for an Animated Feature and Film Score of the Year, and was nominated twice for Film Music Composition of the Year for the tracks "Forbidden Friendship" and "Test Drive". The soundtrack received wide acclaim from professional music critics.

988:, as well as the Jónsi song "Sticks & Stones", which he felt " all the enthusiasm out of the environment created by Powell." However, Clemmensen still awarded the score the highest rating of five stars, and later listed the score as one of the Top Five of the year. 934:

The score was exceptionally well-received, earning universal praise from professional film score critics and fans alike. Powell earned a BAFTA nomination for his work as well as his first Oscar nomination, losing both nominations to

282:. Powell had scored many of DreamWorks' previous films, but this was the first of DreamWorks' films where Powell helmed the score on his own (on his previous efforts with DreamWorks, he had collaborated with other composers such as 1001:

said: "It’s very rare that one can listen to an entire 70+ minute album and honestly say that all of them have musical merit, but that is genuinely the case here. Usually scores of this length have a fair amount of filler, but on

42: 1186: 2630: 1179: 2796: 290:). Zimmer had long praised Powell's abilities, and on many occasions, asserted that he was the superior composer between them, thus firmly supporting Powell's solo animation effort. 677:"Test Drive". "The Vikings Theme" is introduced shortly thereafter, played by a solo bassoon, after which a second interpretation of Hiccup's theme is played by wind instruments. 2745: 2573: 2082: 2856: 336:"I was certainly trying to get a bit more epic. I just felt the animation and the visuals were giving me a broader palette to play with. As a kid I remember watching 2052: 2168: 2078: 2048: 1112: 998: 973: 254: 2492: 2298: 2268: 2645: 976:, praised the score, saying that "Powell has finally managed to create a well rounded and more easily digestible variation on his typical mannerisms for 2264: 2851: 2389: 2861: 2789: 2594: 2328: 1023: 2566: 2846: 2764: 2526: 1062: 234: 2700: 2663: 2623: 2443: 274: 226: 2302: 2739: 2724: 2871: 2876: 2836: 2815: 2732: 2559: 249: 2866: 1095: 2074: 2841: 2044: 1101: 243: 238: 2141: 262: 297:

was brought on to write and record the song "Sticks & Stones", which plays during the end credits of the film. Director

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were really very specific a lot of the time. They did want size and depth and emotion. They wanted a feeling of the

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felt had this very attractive quality to it, and a sweetness, that he thought would be wonderful for the film."

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for the Best Music in a Feature Production from the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood.

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prominently used music from the soundtrack for her Grand Prix Freestyle performances with her gelding

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Other reviewers expressed similar opinions about the score. Jonathan Broxton, founder of

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cues—heavy, dark guitar textures going on at the same time as large orchestration.

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The score has traditional Scottish influences, and uses instruments such as the

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World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film

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introduce the "dragon tune" around 4:15, which is played by low brass.

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The score calls for over 30 percussion instruments. Drums include 5

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The Japanese version uses a J-pop song called "Emerald" written by

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to a certain extent, although I think he was a little bit more

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Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature Production

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s Steve Pond, Powell talked about his intent for the score:

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musical past. You could say the symphonic musical past was

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World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year

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