This weekend the newest STAR TREK movie opens. Being a mild to moderate “trekkie,” I’m looking forward to seeing this newest incarnation of the franchise. I’m also looking forward to hearing what the newest Trek composer brings to the familiar ST world, since there is a legacy of good music to live up to.
The most famous piece of Star Trek music is the main theme from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE, although it is just as well-known as the opening credits music for the t.v. series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Composed by the late Jerry Goldsmith, this theme arguably the signature musical motif of the Star Trek franchise. Goldsmith also scored the 5th (The Final Frontier), 8th (First Contact) 9th (Insurrection) and 10th (Nemesis) installments of the Star Trek films, with “First Contact” featuring yet another stunningly beautiful melody.
James Horner did the scores for the 2nd and 3rd Trek movies (“The Wrath of Khan” and “The Search for Spock”), and these scores really helped launch his career. While not as strong as the Goldsmith scores, there are some memorable themes to come out these soundtracks.
Leonard Rosenman scored STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME. There is a lot of diversity to this score; almost every track features a new theme. It is an extremely contrapuntal score, too (there is a track called “whale fugue!”). This is also the most controversial of the trek scores; as it seems that people either love it or hate it.
STAR TREK: GENERATIONS (7th film) is easily the most forgettable of the trek scores. This seventh installment, composed by the t.v. veteran Dennis McCarthy, just isn’t on the same level as the other soundtracks. To be fair, however, it is possibly the worst trek movie. Regardless, the score just seems to follow the picture; not really contributing anything to the overall story arc of the film. No memorable themes either. After this score, the producers went back to Jerry Goldsmith to score the subsequent films.
Michael Giachinno has scored the newest film, and I’m looking forward to hear what he has done. Now if I can just find some time to go see it….
