Alan Silvestri’s score for “Judge Dredd” was one of the most eagerly-awaited in 1995.  Musically the film had been associated with three composers.  The film was originally to have been scored by David Arnold.  Then events led to Jerry Goldsmith being asked to score the film, and the composer even delivered music for the cinema trailer.  Due to scheduling conflicts (“Congo” and “First Knight”), Goldsmith had to withdraw, and Alan Silvestri was chosen to score the 960-million-dollar action epic.  “That kind of juggling happens all the time for any number of reasons, that’s just how life goes.  I saw the film and thought it would be a lot of fun to work on,” Alan Silvestri comments.

Silvestri has a proven record of providing sophisticated and exciting scores for action films.  His most notable and popular genre entry was for “Predator”, which received almost universal acclaim, and set a standard which has proved difficult to beat.  Given Goldsmith’s unavailability, Silvestri was the natural choice.  The score was recorded at two venues due to the unavailability of a studio of sufficient size.  Orchestral parts were recorded at CTS Studios, Wembley, from 28th April to 1st May.  Choral sections were recorded at Whitfield Street Studios on 2nd May with 35 vocalists and mixed into the orchestral score later in the week.  All the music was recorded by Silvestri regular Dennis Sands with orchestrations by Bill Ross and music editing by Ken Karman.  The score was performed by the Sinfonia of London, featuring a total of 99 musicians.  “Everyone agreed that the imagery demanded a score of those proportions.  Even if we were playing lightly we wanted a weight in the score that would stand up to the imagery of the film.”

Director Danny Cannon has delivered a film of immense scale and energy which is sure to feature amongst the year’s top box-office grossers.  Cannon had very definite ideas as to how the movie should be scored.  “He is certainly very clear about what he wonts, but I didn’t feel that it was stifling.  I have worked with people who are clear about what they want and would actually like to go off and write the score themselves! I never got that from Danny.  He had a very sure point of view in terms of evoking a performance from me as a composer and giving me the chance to bring an input to the film, but he did shepherd it in the direction he wanted.  He was really artful about it and didn’t interfere in the creative process.”

I was fortunate to attend the recording sessions on Saturday 29th April.  Given the scale of the film, and the millions of dollars resting on its success, the recording sessions were relaxed and informal.  The Sinfonia of London provided their second magnificent performance of the week, having only just completed recording Robert Folk’s “Lawnmower Man II”.  The speed at which these musicians can sight read and deliver a complex performance in only a couple of takes (sometimes one!) is truly remarkable.  Silvestri and his team were clearly impressed and almost stunned at times.  “The performance was just completely delightful; not just technically, but the feeling in the room, the energy.  Everything was just first rate; I’d love to work with them again soon.”

I had many preconceptions about the film and score, all of which proved to be completely wrong.  Silvestri has fashioned a unique score for the comic book hero that defies comparison.  “Dredd” is not a score in the dark and gothic “Batman” tradition.  “That was something everyone wanted to avoid.  Everything in a comic book is purely what it is.  The good guy is good, and the bad guys are really bad.  What I found when I first watched the film was that ‘Dredd’ was very much in that spirit.  Ultimately we know ‘Dredd’ can’t lose; It’s that sort of story, archetype.  So the score was treated, not on a moment by moment basis, but in a broader way.  Rather than dwell on all the darkness, the score had to be ready for the lighter moments.  That was my response to the film.”

“Judge Dredd” is Silvestri’s most mature work so far, and certainly his finest achievement to date.  All the familiar characteristics of a Silvestri action score are here; dynamic brass writing, thunderous percussion and driving strings.  However, “Judge Dredd” is distinctive from previous Silvestri scores, with the orchestration being somewhat warmer and fuller.  In a film that has lots of action, for the sake of action, it is very much music from the body.  The more we can keep people interested in and connected to the emotional side of the characters, the better.  “I think this is something I’m developing.  I’m learning more and more about music and storytelling with each new score.  ‘Predator’ was a very visceral score and whilst many of those elements are here I’d agree with you that ‘Dredd’ is richer in many ways.”

Several difficult cues were dealt with during the sessions I attended.  The highlight was certainly ‘Council Chaos’, an exhilarating and lengthy action piece which featured much of the score’s central thematic material.  The main six note theme, is a supercharged motif, accompanying particularly heroic displays.  The theme itself is very much in the style of the main theme from “Back to the Future”, though obviously with a greater seriousness and vigour.  The other major theme (for the bad guys) is a hybrid of the main theme and usually appears as a militaristic rhythmic figure.  Like all of the cues, ‘Council Chaos’ features intricate and mesmerising orchestrations that fully utilise the enormous ensemble.

All parties were extremely satisfied with the day’s recording.  The Sinfonia’s executive director, Peter Willison, hopes that the increasingly flourishing reputation of his orchestra will lead to even more Hollywood projects being recorded in London.  An album of the orchestral score will be available along with a song album on Epic Soundtrax featuring two songs by “Stargate” composer David Arnold (which will also feature some of Silvestri’s music).  A twin soundtrack release is becoming increasingly common these days, and Silvestri prefers this to the combination of songs and score which plagued releases during the eighties.