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John Barry did the score for the rejected "Star Trek 7: The Search for the Big Tuba".
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GENE RODDENBERRY, for co-creating the iconic STAR TREK theme. Just kidding, folks.
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...John Barry some if the earliest composer names noticed in credits. John Barry did Star Trek? I think he was just saying that two STAR TREK composers were the first two composer names he started to notice apart from Goldsmith and Barry.
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Honestly, I think this discussion would have more variety if the movies were not included. Goldsmith just rates too highly among the folks here. It's like discussing the actors who have played James Bond. You should always start that off with "aside from Connery...." So, aside from Goldsmith....
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For the original series, Fred Steiner and Sol Kaplan really give Star Trek its voice. Huge props to Sandy Courage, though. The movies: Goldsmith and Horner. I just wish Goldsmith would have not leaned so heavily on the TMP themes for the titles and Klingons. I always looked forward to every new Star Trek movie main theme and was always let down when Goldsmith went right back to his standard. His new sub-themes were great, but once he hit the TNG movies, he kept going back too often. The TMP theme, the Klingon theme, the 4 note Sybok/Sha'Ka'Rhee theme, etc. I enjoyed Insurrection the most out of his later works because it felt more organic to the film, drawing less from the catalog. Nemesis wasn't bad either, but there were more dead spots. Horner's sweeping, seafaring and mystical scores for Treks II and III are magical and my two favorite scores of the movies. He absolutely tapped the core of Star Trek. Great, great stuff and my heart sank when I first found out he wasn't attached to Star Trek IV. Rosenmann's work was flat and abrasive, pretty much like his other genre work. Most underrated: Dennis McCarthy. His score is a jewel.
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Posted: |
Aug 28, 2013 - 8:25 AM
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By: |
bdm
(Member)
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Tough question: For the Original Series it has to be Sol Kaplan; scored only two episodes, and those scores (Stephen and Scott corrected me rightly - I meant Enemy Within [thanks S squared] & The Doomsday Machine) have sooooo many moments iconic with the series, and were quoted again and again. The films: Jerry Goldsmith TNG: I really don't care for the music from this series (I find the producers, and thus McCarthy's approach just ethereal, new age, background sound as opposed to a score [TOS had scores!]), I bought the Ron Jones set, all the GNP albums, and La La's Volume one. I prefer the Ron Jones material, so I'll go with Ron Jones. DS9: As above, I really don't care for the music here, and I did buy the set from La La, so if I had to say, I would go with Jay Chattaway, as I can listen to his contributions with more enjoyment than the others (though the New Recruits disc is interesting). Voyager: Great theme (Goldsmith again), and some interesting scores, that began to break at times from the TNG/DS9 sound as the series progressed, and will buy the set when La La releases it. Right now, I would say David Bell, as I love the Chaotica score. Enterprise: Starting in the 3rd, and really landing in the 4th season, the music really began to resemble the approach in TOS, and I hope the La La set has much music from these seasons. Couldn't say a composer as Greatest at this point, but in a nod to D. McCarthy, his score for Impulse in Season 3 (the Vulcan Zombie episode) is my fave from him - it really stood out (in the right way) and added zing to that episode. JJA: Well, Giacchino of course
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Just to correct you, Charlie X wasn't Sol Kaplan.
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I just wish Goldsmith would have not leaned so heavily on the TMP themes for the titles and Klingons. Amen. The 'Enterprise' theme and 'Klingon Battle' may well be the two most perfect creations in the STAR TREK musical universe, but I too also wished Goldsmith's latter scores didn't reference them so much. Indeed, in that sequence in STAR TREK V where the music keeps passing back and forth between speeded-up Enterprise theme and speeded-up Klingon theme, I felt this material which was once stately and important had been reduced to the status of Tom-and-Jerry chase music. The STAR TREK V score was at its best when it was NOT re-hashing those themes, IMO. My only other wish, is I do believe it would have worked well to open STAR TREK: TMP with the Alexander Courage fanfare before going into his own theme. I think the fans needed that reference and missed it. Apart from that, I do think STAR TREK: TMP is the magnum opus of all STAR TREK musical creations. But I also think those original series composers deserve applause. Even if it's only due to endless TV repeats, I think the music of Fred Steiner has more recognition than Jerry's music apart from those two themes. Cheers
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How can one honestly argue that Steiner's or Kaplan's (or Fielding's, or Mullendore's, or Duning's, or Courage's, or McCarthy's, or Jones's, or Chattaway's) scores, solid as some of them certainly are, are anything but pygmies against the giant that is Goldsmith's ST:TMP (or, for that matter, TFF & FC)? Don't forget some of the score for Star Trek: The Motion Picture was composed by Fred Steiner. Based on Goldsmith's thematic building blocks yes, but Steiner does some very imaginative things with them, and his cues are very impressive in their own right. I do agree Goldsmith is the greatest Star Trek composer. That said, I'd rate a number of original series scores as superior to Goldsmith's underwhelming Star Trek: Nemesis.
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Tough question: For the Original Series it has to be Sol Kaplan; scored only two episodes, and those scores (Charlie X & The Doomsday Machine) The Enemy Within was his first season score.
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