Theme from Star Trek

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The "Theme from Star Trek" (originally scored under the title "Where No Man Has Gone Before")[1] was an instrumental piece written by Alexander Courage for Star Trek, the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry and originally aired between September 8, 1966 and September 2, 1969.

The tune was played over both the opening and closing credits of the original series. The opening credits begin with the now-famous "Space: the final frontier" monologue recited by series star William Shatner, accompanied by an opening fanfare. The main theme begins, punctuated at several points by the Enterprise flying toward and past the camera with a "whoosh" sound for dramatic effect, created vocally by Courage himself.[2] The theme, minus the fanfare, was played over the closing credits, which were overlaid on a series of stills from various episodes.

There were three versions of the theme used in the series. The first season's initial ten episodes used a mixed electronic/orchestral arrangement. For this version the main melody line was created electronically with a "soprano voicing" along the lines of what the later seasons used. This was supported by the familiar orchestral sound. This theme was last heard on "The Corbomite Maneuver" The end titles of all these episodes used the orchestral-only version save for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" which in addition to using it on the closing did not have the familiar opening narration. The unbroadcast pilot "The Cage" used a slightly different version which has both a human soprano voice, electronic underpinnings as well as symphonic support. The rest of the episodes of the first season from "The Menagerie, Part 1" forward used the orchestral-only arrangement.

For the second and third seasons a wordless rendition of the melody line, sung by soprano Loulie Jean Norman, was added. In 2006, CBS began syndicating a "remastered" version of the series with numerous changes, including re-recordings of the second and third versions of the theme music. The original electronic voiced version was not recreated nor were the original theme masters used. Instead the symphonic-only version was used for all Season One episodes. The only example of the first theme left is on the end titles of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" because the end titles music was not replaced for the remastering. Elin Carlson [1], a professional singer and lifetime Star Trek fan, recorded Norman's wordless vocals for the second and third season version.

Over time, the show's theme tune has become immediately recognizable, even by many people who have never seen the program. Portions of the original theme music have been used in subsequent Star Trek series' and motion pictures. Jerry Goldsmith quoted the theme in the first Star Trek motion picture, where it softly accompanies the "captain's log" scenes. Dennis McCarthy reused the original theme's fanfare when he reworked Goldsmith's main theme for use as Star Trek: The Next Generation's opening theme. Here, the fanfare precedes Goldsmith's theme. Most of the subsequent Star Trek films' main title music starts with the fanfare before seguéing into music composed specially for the given film.

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[edit] Lyrics

Without Courage's knowledge, Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme—not in the expectation that they'd ever be sung, but in order to claim a 50% share of the music's performance royalties. Although there was never any litigation, Courage later commented that he believed Roddenberry's conduct was unethical. Roddenberry was quoted as responding, "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it out of the profits of Star Trek".[3]

[edit] Other recordings and uses

In the 1970s, Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed Uhura on the original series, recorded a disco version of the song with lyrics different from Roddenberry's.

Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson recorded a fusion version of the tune with his big band, first released on his Conquistador album in January 1977.

  • The beginning of this version was also used as the opening theme for The Larry King Show on the Mutual Radio Network. It was so popular that King would occasionally play the entire song at the end of the show.

In the movie Wayne's World, Garth is heard whistling the Star Trek theme while lying on top of the hood of the AMC Pacer. While looking at the stars, he says "Sometimes I wish I could boldly go where no one's gone before".

At the 2005 Emmys, Shatner and operatic singer Frederica von Stade performed a live version of the theme, with Shatner reciting the opening monologue and von Stade singing the wordless melody line.

In 2007, some TV ads for the Hummer H3 featured the theme recording used in the second and third seasons.

For the upcoming eleventh Star Trek movie, composer Michael Giacchino will keep the theme for his score to the film.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tim Grant Engle (editor, writer), Bob Klein (producer). (2006, March). Malibu Celebration of Film Presents Music Takes Courage: A Tribute to Alexander Courage (part 1) [video]. Retrieved on 2007-05-20. Event occurs at 0:39.
  2. ^ Tim Grant Engle (editor, writer), Bob Klein (producer). (2006, March). Malibu Celebration of Film Presents Music Takes Courage: A Tribute to Alexander Courage (part 4) [video]. Retrieved on 2007-05-20. Event occurs at 2:39. "So I went out on the stage and watched the screen, and as it went by, there was the microphone. I just went "whooosh", and that's what they used."
  3. ^ Unthemely Behavior. Urban Legends Reference Pages (March 10, 1999). Retrieved on 2007-05-20.

[edit] External links