Episode 12: Back To The Future

Art of the Score

After a short hiatus, we’re Back – from the future – with a good look at Alan Silvestri’s score to the Robert Zemeckis time-travel classic. Back to the Future is, at its core, about a small group of characters, and yet it possesses a huge scale of feeling and mood, much of which can be attributed to Silvestri’s impressive orchestral score. Join us as we take in the jazz roots of this classic, the fanfares and motifs, and of course, the classic hit songs that power the film. Episode notes: 0:45 – We’re back, from the future 4:40 – Following in the Spielbergian mould 13:10 – Romancing the Silvestri-Zemeckis relationship 16:10 – The main theme 20:00 – Asking questions through tritones 26:00 – Mysterious origins of the time machine 29:14 – Main theme variations 32:32 – Going through the gears 39:41 – The main theme, romantically 41:47 – Marty’s theme 44:39 – The time motif and the Back to the Future sound 49:05 – Doc’s turning wheels 53:00 – The octatonic scale 55:02 – The Biff motif 57:08 – Back to the Predator 59:33 – Art of the Score dissects the climactic suite 1:07:00 – Is it the best climax suite in film music? 1:09:54 – The songs! The Power of Loving Back to the Future 1:15:50 – Mister Sandman 1:26:10 – Night Train 1:32:13 – Earth Angel 1:37:19 – Andrew’s Johnny B Goode telephone authorship theory of doom We love to hear from our listeners – get in touch via Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you like The Art of the Score, please take a moment to subscribe, rate and comment.