Alan Silvestri page

'There are times where it is very important for the music to show something that is not seen, but there are also many times where the music has to accompany what we are seeing.'

Personal quote

Alan Silvestri is probably one of the most well known composers. His list includes many big names and most of them are big action adventures or just blockbusters. So it's naturally his scores are big, bombastic, fun and great at the same time. Most of the films are directed by Robert Zemeckis, for years there has been an enormous collaboration between composer and director. But that also means if Robert scores big, Alan scores big. It's not difficult to name Back to the Future and Forrest Gump as the ultimate winners. Alan serves as a true composer does but some scores are very displeasing to listen to, even if they fit the film perfectly. It's one of those things that keeps Alan from the top list of Hollywood. But not to worry, if Alan gets a sparkling, dazzling or simply adventurous task he will not disappoint to bring those moments of pure magic we all know of him. Dare I to say an example, The Mummy Returns of course.

Biography

Alan Silvestri is born on 26 march, 1950 in New York, New York. He began playing piano at a very early age, so he started questioning if a career in music wasn't a possibility. He studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music for 2 years. After that he moved to Vegas where he went on tour with R&B legend Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders band. At an evening he met Alan Bradford, an associate for Quincy Jones. There was a studio that needed music for a project, Alan Bradford never scored a musical composition and so he asked Alan Silvestri to take the assignment. Alan naturally took the chance and he scored his first score for the film The Doberman Gang. That resulted later in a successful TV series namely Chips. After the cancellation of the show Silvestri was out of work until he met a director, Robert Zemeckis wanted Silvestri to score a certain scene for a movie. So the demo was put to life and Silvestri began his big successful career with Romancing the Stone. The film was a huge success, not only for Robert Zemeckis and Alan Silvestri but also for actors Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny Devito.

The next year was bingo for Alan Silvestri. He scored Back to the Future, one of the biggest films of that year and so far one of the best scores of Alan. From that point on Alan's career was set, big projects were flowing his way and that resulted in scores for blockbusters as Predator (with Arnold Schwarzenegger), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (second collaboration between Robert and Alan), the sequel Back to the Future II and the sensational hit of James Cameron The Abyss (which he wrote a fantastic score for), follow ups Predator 2 and Back to the Future III, the sweet comedy Father of the Bride and the nostalgic Death Becomes Her. But the highlight of Alan Silvestri's career to date was his Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Forrest Gump. The film broke all box-office records and it proved once again the successful relation between Robert and Alan. Alan continued to score large assignments. Some movies did do perhaps lesser than expected but they remained a big name in Hollywood. Blown Away, Judge Dredd, Eraser, Volcano, Mouse Hunt and many others. What Lies Beneath, CastAway, the excellent The Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf are Silvestri's latest collaborations between him and Robert Zemeckis. And while Pirates of the Caribbean was a dead end job, Silvestri scored Tomb Raider 2, Van Helsing, The Wild and Night at the Museum Silvestri remains a busy and highly respected artist for the music fans.

May 22, 2001

The first film was very successful, and Jerry's score was fantastic. It was just unusual to not have that combination revisited, and to be asked to come in and carry it on. When you look at sequels to successful films, it's very rare. Look, I don't even try to fill Jerry's shoes - he's bulging over on his own...
(on The Mummy)

May 22, 2001

The part that a lot of people don't know is that when I went in for that meeting with Bob Zemeckis, I was wearing a Calvin Klein sweater and I walked in and Bob had on the exact same sweater - so that was the sign! You have to make sure you're wearing the right sweater when you go to a meeting!
(on getting onboard Romancing the Stone)