Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri is a master at creating memorable and powerful themes, and his specialties include both hard-hitting action and tender romance. Silvestri first entered the world of music as a percussionist and subsequently played with Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders. Silvestri was lured to Los Angeles with a contract, but it turned out to be fraudulent and the musician soon found himself with nothing to do. A producer offered Silvestri the job of scoring The Doberman Gang. Silvestri knew nothing about film scoring, but picked up a book on film scoring technique and took the job.

After scoring a few obscure films, Silvestri scored the TV show CHiPs for its six season run from 1978 to 1983. Once the series came to an end, Silvestri received a call from Robert Zemeckis with an offer to score the director's third feature, Romancing the Stone. In an oft-repeated story, Silvestri walked into the meeting with Zemeckis to find that they were both wearing the same Calvin Klein sweater. It was the beginning of a great partnership, and Silvestri scored all of Zemeckis's subsequent features. After the electronic rhythms and jazzy riffs of Romancing the Stone, Silvestri composed his first major orchestral score for Back to the Future, composing a timeless fanfare and establishing his signature style of action scoring. He wrote a similar score for the sequel and composed rollicking Western music for the series' third installment. Who Framed Roger Rabbit combines blues with manic cartoon music and, Death Becomes Her features a witty string scherzo. He wrote a multitude of inspiring and tender themes for the Academy Award-nominated Forrest Gump and similarly tender but celestial-tinged music for Contact. While What Lies Beneath features Herrmann-esque suspense, Cast Away is a restrained score with no music appearing until the last third of the film. Flight is even more restrained and subtle, the score playing a lesser role than in Cast Away despite there being slightly more music. But both Polar Express and A Christmas Carol have scores brimming with holiday magic and boundless energy, while Beowulf combines dark chorus, orchestra, and electronics is a brutal frenzy of action.

As expected, some of Silvestri's best scores make use of the composer's percussionist background, featuring exciting action cues. Films such as Predator, Young Guns II, Ricochet, Blown Away, Judge Dredd, Eraser, Volcano, Van Helsing, and GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra showcase Silvestri's natural talent for the genre. The Mummy Returns is an especially exciting score, with one of the most swashbuckling themes in modern music. Yet he also can write heart-tugging music for films like Father of the Bride, The Parent Trap, Stuart Little, and Maid in Manhattan. His scores for James Cameron's The Abyss, Disney's Lilo and Stitch, and DreamWorks's The Croods show Silvestri deftly combining both tenderness and action. With his scores for the Marvel blockbusters Captain America and The Avengers, Silvestri has made a welcome return to the high-profile films that his exuberant music deserves.

The A-Team

The Abyss*
The Avengers

Back to the Future**

Back to the Future Part II

Back to the Future Part III*

Beowulf
Blown Away
The Bodyguard

Captain America: The First Avenger*

Cast Away
Cat's Eye

A Christmas Carol

Contact
Cosmos (Volumes 1-4)
The Croods

The Delta Force

Eraser
Fandango

Father of the Bride
Flight

Flight of the Navigator

Forrest Gump**

GI Joe: Rise of Cobra

Judge Dredd*

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life

Lilo and Stitch

The Mummy Returns**

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

The Parent Trap

The Polar Express*

Predator*

Predator 2
Red 2

Romancing the Stone

Stuart Little

Van Helsing**
Volcano
The Walk
Who Framed Roger Rabbit*

Young Guns II