Composers of Star Trek Music

Ever since Gene Roddenberry’s famous science fiction saga debuted in 1966, audiences have been captivated by the Enterprise’s famous quest to ‘boldly go where no man has gone before.’ And through the decades, those audiences have had some of the most noble, timeless music ever composed accompanying them through both TV episodes and the feature films, inspiring and transporting them to hundreds of vast new worlds. Here’s a look at some of the major composers responsible for these heroic, sonic portraits of human courage.

Alexander Courage (1919-2008)

Alexander Courage was a TV composer and orchestrator-in-residence for MGM Studios for much of his career, but perhaps more than anything else, he is famous for composing the 8-note Star Trek fanfare and TV show theme. In this respect, his musical contribution to the franchise has been greater than any other composer, for the theme has also been incorporated in nearly every feature film of the franchise, and has become the iconic, signature tune of Star Trek as a whole.

Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004)

Jerry Goldsmith was one of Hollywood’s most prolific and admired composers, and wrote such famous scores as The Twighlight Zone, Planet of the Apes, Alien, The Omen, Rambo, and Poltergeist, but the 1979 Oscar™-nominated score to Star Trek: The Motion Picture is widely regarded as one of his greatest scores.

In addition to a lovely theme for the character Ilia, a graceful theme for the Enterprise itself, and an innovative, terrifying motif for the awesome ‘Blaster Beam’ instrument, he also composed the stirring fanfare which later became his theme for the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He went on to become the franchise’s unofficial composer-of-choice, writing scores for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis, as well as the theme for the Star Trek: Voyager television series.

James Horner (1953-present)

Before he became famous for scoring James Cameron’s 1997 film Titanic, and before writing his remarkable scores for Aliens, Willow and The Rocketeer, James Horner was a struggling B-list industry composer who made his big debut with a swashbuckling, lyrical score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. His themes for the film, which he later expanded upon for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, are widely regarded as some of the most adventurous, expansive themes for the franchise. On the original albums, they suffer slightly from a less-than-optimal recording quality, but the sheer enthusiasm of the melodies will easily captivate any listener.

Dennis McCarthy (1944-present)

Perhaps the most prolific composer for the more recent Star Trek television shows, Dennis McCarthy has written volumes of music for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as the score to the feature film Star Trek: Generations, the last film to feature members of the crew from the original series. Dennis McCarthy has received two Emmy awards for his Star Trek material, one for his noble theme to Deep Space Nine and another for underscore featured in The Next Generation. His overture for Star Trek: Generations is particularly soaring and triumphant.

Leonard Rosenman (1924-2008) and Cliff Eidelman (1964-present)

Both of these men only contributed one score each to the franchise, but they are notable entries in the Star Trek canon. Leonard Rosenman’s lighthearted score for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is an entertaining, adventurous score and is the only Star Trek score besides Jerry Goldsmith’s original to receive an Oscar™ nomination for Best Score.

Young Cliff Eidelman was hired to score Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country after the director was forced to abandon his expensive plans to licence Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’. Eidelman’s score is significantly darker and more foreboding than most Trek scores and even features some low choir chants sung in Klingon language! Eidelman’s theme for the Enterprise is one of the most triumphant in the Star Trek canon, and both score and film are widely regarded as among of the best in the franchise.

There are numerous other composers and orchestrators who have contributed greatly to the musical canon of Star Trek, but these are a few of the most significant and memorable. As the world of Star Trek continues to grow, so will the diverse collection of music which defines it. Look for Oscar™-nominated composer Michael Giacchino’s score for JJ Abrams’ upcoming Star Trek film in May 2009.

Explore these dynamic compositions further at Star Trek Soundtracks.

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