Silverado. Bruce Broughton

Rambling man Emmett (Scott Glenn) assembles a group of misfit cowboys, Jake (Kevin Costner), Paden (Kevin Kline) and Mal (Danny Glover). After helping a group of settlers track down a pack of thieves, Emmett and his men descend on the troubled town of Silverado to seek their fortunes. Soon after arriving, they discover that the town has fallen into the grasp of greedy rancher Ethan McKendrick (Ray Baker) and corrupt Sheriff Cobb (Brian Dennehy) with whom many of Emmett's men have unfinished business.

The score for Silverado was written by the then-39-year-old Bruce Broughton, and at the time was the biggest assignment of his career to date. Despite his relative inexperience, Silverado was a massive success in musical terms, and is easily one of the standout works of the composer’s entire career. Fully orchestral, rich, bold, powerful, and steeped in the Western traditions of composers like Aaron Copland and Elmer Bernstein, Silverado is a classic of the genre that rightly earned Broughton an Academy Award nomination. The Main Title represents the homesteaders and their relationship with the vast open spaces of the American west, and it is passed between strings, oboe, flute, and trumpet, accompanied by an expressive solo guitar.

[sammywestenberger]

Bruce BROUGHTON Isolated Score Main Title