Soundtrack Review: Star Trek: The Original Series Volume 1 (1985)

Posted by Jon Blough

April 30, 2009

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Star Trek TOS Vol. 1 This is a review of the original TV score Star Trek The Original Series Volume 1 by Alexander Courage.

“You can seek the album with the confidence you’ll like it, but for those looking for a whiz-bang classic, Volume 2 is the superior choice.”

I do not have enough expertise to say whether or not television scoring is better than it was 40 years ago. Now, there are a lot more shows and a lot of different ways of scoring, whether the synthetic drive behind 24, Michael Giacchino’s minimalist efforts in Lost and Fringe, Murray Gold’s powerful, gorgeous ruckus in Doctor Who, or Joe Hisaishi’s epic efforts in The Legend. Yet the proliferation of the crime procedural has left us with a lot of similar scores, and with typical electronic rumbling all over the market it’s hard not to yearn for the glory decades when names like Jerry Goldsmith, Alexander Courage, and Bill Conti were writing. In two years I may have a better opinion on this. Anyways, the only brand that has been an orchestral mainstay throughout the years, even in the 90s when no one else used one, was Star Trek, and a big debt of gratitude can be thrown to Alexander Courage for that. After years of waiting, fans were finally treated to the first volume of his music in 1985.

Fanfare

The main Courage fanfare is here in full to start, with the spacey opening of chimes and trumpet intro in the same style James Horner would replicate for his film scores. Most of its performances are sparse hints throughout the score on its first three notes, like the close of “Prime Specimen” and the opening of “Star Trek Theme”. The title theme initially feels dated, but after a few listens its snazzy, upbeat style is a superb listen (especially with that female solo voice behind everything), one you wish could have been incorporated into the underscore more. As for the rest of the underscore, the included episodes were meant to be the first two aired, but studio meddling pushed them out of order. “The Cage”, the intended pilot, didn’t even feature Captain Kirk! Anyways, that episode is meant to be creepy and cerebral, and the resulting score delivers. “Survivors” and “Prime Specimen” would introduce the mysterious flute theme for the episode, and sneaky it truly is, with string plucking, chimes, and a small female choir behind it, all surprisingly seductive for a TV score. Light tribal percussion and a harp add to the mysterious factor. Some of the cues keep the atmosphere but are not terribly engaging, like the twanging in “Bottled” and “Probed”, a problem one can probably chalk up to the situational nature of television scoring. Eventually, it all gets a bit repetitive, but the overall mood is impressive for a debut episode.

Few Breaks

There’s still a few breaks from that mood, all quite good. The action is harsh and brassy, made clear with the ominous buildup of “Monster Illusion”. “Monster Fight” has a very present tuba part push forward an exceptionally rumbling affair. “Pike’s Punishment” swells to ominous levels, with every section of the orchestra (including a harp!) chaotically swelling, while the trumpets in “To Catch A T” are biting and menacing. On the lighter side, “Doctor Bartender” is a nice little piece for winds, with some beautiful work on oboe, and it’s the only piece from the first included episode to feature the whole Courage fanfare. There’s a gorgeous, soothing theme on oboe in “Picnic” that begs for more expansion, and perhaps it did in other episodes. “Vena’s Dance”, a piece that sounds at home in a desert epic, is also superb.

Conclusion

The music for the second episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, would introduce the standard “Episode Titles”, a fine representation of the isolation of space with sparse fluttering winds and muted trumpet. The best piece is “Force Field”, a cue which may not be as memorable as Goldsmith’s own cue of the same title for TMP but still rises to a dense, effective clamor. Also noteworthy is “Instant Paradise”, another fine, dark suspense cue. However, there’s no dominant motif for this, nor any inclusion of the main themes. A trumpet motif from “Force Field” is also in the last credits, featuring a rousing, Western-like sendoff in the last cue, and perhaps if the missing music (supposedly 10 minutes of climatic action fare) had been released it may have popped up more. That aside, most cues from this episode are under a minute and leave little impression, perhaps dragging down the second half but not enough to truly hurt the album. You can seek the album with the confidence you’ll like it, but for those looking for a whiz-bang classic, Volume 2 is the superior choice.

Album (43:04)

1.    Star Trek Theme (Main Title) (0:54)
2.    Doctor Bartender (1:20)
3.    Survivors (1:44)
4.    Prime Specimen (3:12)
5.    Bottled (1:52)
6.    Probed (0:50)
7.    Monster Illusion (1:16)
8.    Monster Fight (1:38)
9.    The Kibitzers (0:41)
10.    Vina’s Punishment (1:49)
11.    Pike’s Punishment (0:36)
12.    Picnic (2:14)
13.    True Love (1:23)
14.    Vena’s Dance (1:53)
15.    Torchy Girl (0:14)
16.    Under the Spell (0:29)
17.    Primitive Thoughts (0:28)
18.    Wrong Think (0:44)
19.    To Catch A T (1:24)
20.    Going Up (1:10)
21.    Max’s Factor (2:08)
22.    Star Trek Theme (End Title) (1:33)
23.    Star Trek Main Title (0:16)
24.    Star Date (0:38)
25.    Episode Titles (1:22)
26.    Force Field (2:24)
27.    Silvery Orbs (1:53)
28.    Crippled Ship (0:57)
29.    Speedy Reader (0:51)
30.    Hit The Button (0:05)
31.    On Delta-Vega (0:42)
32.    When Your Eyes Have Turned To Silver (1:03)
33.    Instant Paradise (2:53)
34.    End Title and Credits (0:24)
35.    Additional Credits (0:23)