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Although the runtime for Silvestri's score in Father of the Bride is brief, there are few moments when one of his themes aren't in use. The aforementioned Bridal Chorus melody by Wagner is performed most frequently by brass with much pomp, heralding the importance of the event. It accents the fluffy ensemble open in "Main Title" and closes the cue with more humor, reprising the same role in the enthusiastic "The Wedding" and "The Big Day," the latter cue taking the idea towards humorous territory. It erupts with the main theme in "Annie at the Mirror" and dominates its latter half of that cue before closing "The Way You Look Tonight (Reprise)" elegantly and repeating its "Main Title" posture at the start and end of "End Credits." Silvestri's coins two major themes for the score, the main one a hopelessly optimistic identity of high drama with a Golden Age personality. It flourishes with gusto from the full group at 0:31 into "Main Title," accented by cymbal crashes, and informs the snazzy jazz in the latter half of the cue. It tapers back for a while, vaguely guiding the comedic dribbling of soft suspense in "Snooping Around" and very tentative on harp and strings in "Annie Asleep." More obviously, it toggles with the Bridal Chorus in "The Wedding" and emerges directly out of Annie's theme on piano in "Snow Scene" with good sincerity for a late blossoming. The idea's secondary phrases vaguely assist the pleasant atmosphere of "Nina at the Stairs." The theme is explored in slower tempos during several subsequent cues, including the start of "Annie at the Mirror" (but finding its exuberant form thereafter), on similarly contemplative on piano in "My Annie's Gone" (before another ensemble moment of drama), and following the same strategy at the outset of "The Way You Look Tonight (Reprise)." The main theme then dutifully repeats its "Main Title" performance in "End Credits" as well. Finally, the daughter, Annie, has a theme that gets a little lost in the score. It's attractive but uses a somewhat aimless primary progression with a much better set of secondary phrases. Heard immediately on oboe in "Annie's Theme" and switching to warm synth keyboard, this identity's primary phrase is twisted into a tool of comedy relief on strings in "Pool Cue" prior to turning to piano for tender embrace in the first half of "Snow Scene." Silvestri reprises its oboe rendition at 1:16 into "End Credits." There's absolutely nothing offensive about any of the music in Father of the Bride, but it's also middling amongst the composer's many equivalent works. The "End Credits" suite summarizing all the pertinent ideas is really all you need. Some listeners may find the unashamedly positive personality of the score to be obnoxious, especially with the Bridal Chorus infused into all the heftiest cues. Silvestri returned to continue his thematic development in the 1995 sequel, and his music was edited into the third, short film.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31 (in 58 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.21 (in 42,804 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 27:46