Star Trek: The Original Series (theme song)
Encyclopedia
"Theme from Star Trek" is an instrumental musical 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.
, 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. A slightly longer version of the theme, minus the fanfare, was played over the closing credits, which were overlaid on a series of stills from various episodes.
Courage has said his inspiration for the main part of the theme was the Richard Whiting
song "Beyond the Blue Horizon," giving him the idea for a song which was a "long thing that...keeps going out into space...over a fast moving accompaniment." The opening resembles two elements of symphonies by Gustav Mahler
; the very beginning echoes the first notes of Mahler's First Symphony
, while the first three notes of the leitmotif
fanfare, as well as some of the harmonic structure and orchestration that Courage used, are similar to phrases in the first movement of his Seventh Symphony
. The melodic and rhythmic outline of the opening horn solo is clearly derived from motto themes found in the openings of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (most especially that of the horn section solo in the opening of the Ninth) while the duplet-triplet pattern of the melody is found in Bruckner's Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Symphonies. The harmonic progression is from the song "Out Of Nowhere
," a jazz song written by Edward Heyman
and Johnny Green.
The unaired pilot "The Cage" used a wordless rendition of the melody line, sung by soprano
Loulie Jean Norman
with flute and organ, over an orchestral arrangement. When originally written (and as heard in "The Cage"), Courage had Norman's vocalizations and the various instruments mixed equally to produce what Courage described as a unique "'what is that that I'm hearing?' sound." According to Courage, however, Gene Roddenberry had the mix changed to bring up the female vocal, after which Courage felt the theme sounded like a soprano solo. Finally, for the third season it was remixed again, this time emphasizing the organ
.
Producer Herbert Solow recalled that Norman had been hired under a Screen Actors Guild agreement and would receive rerun fees for her part in the theme. For the second season onwards, her vocals were dropped from the theme. Solow regretted the choice and composer Courage was not informed until twenty seven years later.
In 2006, CBS began syndicating a "remastered" version of the series with numerous changes, including a re-recording of the theme music, which was used for all episodes of the series. Elin Carlson, a professional singer and lifetime Star Trek fan, re-recorded Norman's wordless vocals.
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 1979's Star Trek: The 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 theme music, where the fanfare precedes Goldsmith's theme. Most of the subsequent Star Trek motion pictures's main title music starts with the fanfare before seguéing into music composed specially for the given film. 2009's Star Trek breaks with this tradition; instead, composer Michael Giacchino
uses the opening notes sparingly in the movie, but features an arrangement of the theme in the film's end credits. All the Star Trek feature films to date use the fanfare at some point within the film.
to the theme — not in the expectation that they would 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 considered Roddenberry's conduct unethical. Roddenberry was quoted as responding, "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek." The lyrics are included in the book The Making of Star Trek by Roddenberry and Stephen Whitfield, and were featured in an issue of the DC Comics
Star Trek comic book, "performed" by the character Uhura.
Series producer Robert Justman
noted that work on the film Doctor Doolittle kept Courage from working on more than two episodes of the first season. Justman was unable to convince Courage to return for the second season and believed that Courage lost enthusiasm for the series due to the "royalty" issue.
, who portrayed Uhura
on the original series, recorded a disco
version of the song with lyrics different from Roddenberry's.
Van McCoy
released an instrumental disco
version of the song on his 1976 album The Real McCoy.
Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson
recorded a fusion version of the tune with his big band, first released on his Conquistador album in January 1977. This recording was later used as the opening theme for The Larry King Show on the Mutual Radio Network, and was so popular that King would occasionally play the entire song at the end of the show.
The theme was used as the breakaway music
for the aircraft carrier for many years, until it was replaced by the theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
In 1992, Austrian dance act Edelweiss
had a hit with the number "Starship Edelweiss", which used the theme as its melodic base.
In the movie Wayne's World
, Garth is heard whistling the Star Trek theme while lying on top of the hood of an 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.
The 2003 release Magical Moods of the Theremin, by lounge act Project: Pimento includes the theme performed with lyrics, and a theremin. (The title theme recordings for the TV series are often erroneously believed to feature a theremin
.)
In the 2006
film RV
, Jeff Daniels
' character has an RV with a horn that uses a snippet of the theme.
In 2007, some TV ads for the Hummer H3
featured the theme recording used in the second and third seasons.
In 2009, the theme was used as the wake-up call for the crew of mission STS-125
aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
.
On March 7, 2011, Shatner, in character as Kirk, voiced a wake-up call for the crew of STS-133
in the Space Shuttle Discovery
on its final day docked to the International Space Station
. His call at 0723 UTC, reminiscent of the over-voicing on the original Star Trek series, was backed by the theme as he said, "Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before."
Alexander Courage
Alexander "Sandy" Mair Courage Jr. was an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer of music, primarily for television and film.-Biography:...
for Star Trek
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
, the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
television series created by Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
and originally aired between September 8, 1966 and September 2, 1969.
History
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 ShatnerWilliam Shatner
William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...
, accompanied by an opening fanfare. The main theme begins, punctuated at several points by the Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...
flying toward and past the camera with a "whoosh" sound for dramatic effect, created vocally by Courage himself. A slightly longer version of the theme, minus the fanfare, was played over the closing credits, which were overlaid on a series of stills from various episodes.
Courage has said his inspiration for the main part of the theme was the Richard Whiting
Richard A. Whiting
Richard Armstrong Whiting was a composer of popular songs including the standards, "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?" & "On the Good Ship Lollipop"....
song "Beyond the Blue Horizon," giving him the idea for a song which was a "long thing that...keeps going out into space...over a fast moving accompaniment." The opening resembles two elements of symphonies by Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
; the very beginning echoes the first notes of Mahler's First Symphony
Symphony No. 1 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 1 in D major by Gustav Mahler was mainly composed between late 1887 and March 1888, though it incorporates music Mahler had composed for previous works. It was composed while Mahler was second conductor at the Leipzig Opera, Germany...
, while the first three notes of the leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
fanfare, as well as some of the harmonic structure and orchestration that Courage used, are similar to phrases in the first movement of his Seventh Symphony
Symphony No. 7 (Mahler)
Gustav Mahler's Seventh Symphony was written in 1904-05, with repeated revisions to the scoring. It is sometimes referred to by the title Song of the Night , though this title was not Mahler's own and he disapproved of it. Although the symphony is often described as being in the key of 'E minor,'...
. The melodic and rhythmic outline of the opening horn solo is clearly derived from motto themes found in the openings of the symphonies of Anton Bruckner (most especially that of the horn section solo in the opening of the Ninth) while the duplet-triplet pattern of the melody is found in Bruckner's Third, Fourth, Sixth and Eighth Symphonies. The harmonic progression is from the song "Out Of Nowhere
Out of Nowhere (Johnny Green song)
"Out of Nowhere" is a popular song composed by Johnny Green with lyrics by Edward Heyman. It was first recorded by Bing Crosby in 1931 and became his first number one hit as a solo artist...
," a jazz song written by Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman
Edward Heyman was an American musician and lyricist, best known for his compositions "Body and Soul", "When I Fall in Love", and "For Sentimental Reasons". He also contributed many songs for films.-Biography:...
and Johnny Green.
The unaired pilot "The Cage" used a wordless rendition of the melody line, sung by soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
Loulie Jean Norman
Loulie Jean Norman
Loulie Jean Norman was a famous coloratura soprano who worked with famed arranger Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins and Norman collaborated on a number of albums...
with flute and organ, over an orchestral arrangement. When originally written (and as heard in "The Cage"), Courage had Norman's vocalizations and the various instruments mixed equally to produce what Courage described as a unique "'what is that that I'm hearing?' sound." According to Courage, however, Gene Roddenberry had the mix changed to bring up the female vocal, after which Courage felt the theme sounded like a soprano solo. Finally, for the third season it was remixed again, this time emphasizing the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
Producer Herbert Solow recalled that Norman had been hired under a Screen Actors Guild agreement and would receive rerun fees for her part in the theme. For the second season onwards, her vocals were dropped from the theme. Solow regretted the choice and composer Courage was not informed until twenty seven years later.
In 2006, CBS began syndicating a "remastered" version of the series with numerous changes, including a re-recording of the theme music, which was used for all episodes of the series. Elin Carlson, a professional singer and lifetime Star Trek fan, re-recorded Norman's wordless vocals.
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
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith was an American composer and conductor most known for his work in film and television scoring....
quoted the theme in 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
, where it softly accompanies the "captain's log" scenes. Dennis McCarthy reused the original theme's fanfare
Fanfare
A Fanfare is a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets and other brass instruments often accompanied by percussion...
when he reworked Goldsmith's main theme for use as Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
's theme music, where the fanfare precedes Goldsmith's theme. Most of the subsequent Star Trek motion pictures's main title music starts with the fanfare before seguéing into music composed specially for the given film. 2009's Star Trek breaks with this tradition; instead, composer Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino
Michael Giacchino is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Some of his most notable works include the scores to television series such as Lost, Alias and Fringe, games such as the Medal of Honor and Call of Duty series, and films such as...
uses the opening notes sparingly in the movie, but features an arrangement of the theme in the film's end credits. All the Star Trek feature films to date use the fanfare at some point within the film.
Lyrics
Without Courage's knowledge, Roddenberry wrote lyricsLyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
to the theme — not in the expectation that they would ever be sung, but in order to claim a 50% share of the music's performance royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
. Although there was never any litigation, Courage later commented that he considered Roddenberry's conduct unethical. Roddenberry was quoted as responding, "Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not gonna get it out of the profits of Star Trek." The lyrics are included in the book The Making of Star Trek by Roddenberry and Stephen Whitfield, and were featured in an issue of the DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
Star Trek comic book, "performed" by the character Uhura.
Series producer Robert Justman
Robert H. Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman was an American television producer, director and production manager. He worked on many television series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Then Came Bronson and Mission: Impossible.- Career :Bob Justman was one of the...
noted that work on the film Doctor Doolittle kept Courage from working on more than two episodes of the first season. Justman was unable to convince Courage to return for the second season and believed that Courage lost enthusiasm for the series due to the "royalty" issue.
Other recordings and uses
In the 1970s, Nichelle NicholsNichelle Nichols
Nichelle Nichols is an American actress, singer and voice artist. She sang with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton before turning to acting...
, who portrayed Uhura
Uhura
Nyota Uhura is a character in Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and the 2009 film Star Trek...
on the original series, recorded a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
version of the song with lyrics different from Roddenberry's.
Van McCoy
Van McCoy
Van Allen Clinton McCoy was an accomplished musician, music producer, arranger, songwriter, and orchestra conductor. He is known best for his 1975 internationally successful song "The Hustle", which is still played in dance halls and on radio to this day more than thirty years since his death...
released an instrumental disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
version of the song on his 1976 album The Real McCoy.
Jazz trumpeter Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson
Maynard Ferguson was a Canadian jazz musician and bandleader. He came to prominence playing in Stan Kenton's orchestra, before forming his own band in 1957...
recorded a fusion version of the tune with his big band, first released on his Conquistador album in January 1977. This recording was later used as the opening theme for The Larry King Show on the Mutual Radio Network, and was so popular that King would occasionally play the entire song at the end of the show.
The theme was used as the breakaway music
Breakaway music
Breakaway music is a modern U.S. Naval tradition used to motivate sailors upon the conclusion of underway replenishment UNREP, although using breakaway music is at the discretion of the Captain, and not all commands use it...
for the aircraft carrier for many years, until it was replaced by the theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture
In 1992, Austrian dance act Edelweiss
Edelweiss (band)
Edelweiss was an Austrian electronica/dance band consisting of remixers Martin Gletschermayer, Matthias Schweger and Walter Werzowa. The group is best known for their 1988 worldwide hit "Bring Me Edelweiss", and their European hit "Starship Edelweiss"....
had a hit with the number "Starship Edelweiss", which used the theme as its melodic base.
In the movie Wayne's World
Wayne's World (film)
Wayne's World is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Penelope Spheeris and starring Mike Myers in his film debut as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, hosts of the Aurora, Illinois-based Public-access television cable TV show Wayne's World...
, Garth is heard whistling the Star Trek theme while lying on top of the hood of an AMC Pacer
AMC Pacer
The AMC Pacer is a two-door compact automobile produced in the United States by the American Motors Corporation between 1975 and 1980.Its initial design idea was started in 1971. The car's unusual rounded shape with massive glass area greatly contrasted with the three-box architecture with "square,...
. While looking at the stars, he says, "Sometimes I wish I could boldly go where no one's gone before".
At the 2005 Emmys
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
, Shatner and operatic singer Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade
Frederica von Stade is an American mezzo-soprano. Born in Somerville, New Jersey, she acquired the nickname "Flicka" in her childhood. Von Stade attended the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in 1970 and in 1971 appeared as Cherubino in The...
performed a live version of the theme, with Shatner reciting the opening monologue and von Stade singing the wordless melody line.
The 2003 release Magical Moods of the Theremin, by lounge act Project: Pimento includes the theme performed with lyrics, and a theremin. (The title theme recordings for the TV series are often erroneously believed to feature a theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
.)
In the 2006
2006 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2006...
film RV
RV (film)
RV is a 2006 comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Geoff Rodkey, and starring Robin Williams, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Cheryl Hines, Josh Hutcherson, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth and Will Arnett. It was released on April 28, 2006 in North America...
, Jeff Daniels
Jeff Daniels
Jeffrey Warren "Jeff" Daniels is an American actor, musician and playwright. He founded a non-profit theatre company, the Purple Rose Theatre Company, in his home state of Michigan...
' character has an RV with a horn that uses a snippet of the theme.
In 2007, some TV ads for the Hummer H3
Hummer H3
The Hummer H3 was a crossover SUV/Sport Utility Truck from General Motors' Hummer division introduced in 2005 based on the GMT355 underpinning the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon compact pickup trucks. Produced at GM's Shreveport, Louisiana factory and the Port Elizabeth plant in South Africa the...
featured the theme recording used in the second and third seasons.
In 2009, the theme was used as the wake-up call for the crew of mission STS-125
STS-125
STS-125, or HST-SM4 , was the fifth and final space shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope .Launch occurred on 11 May 2009 at 2:01 pm EDT...
aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis
Space Shuttle Atlantis
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in the Space Shuttle fleet belonging to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration , the spaceflight and space exploration agency of the United States...
.
On March 7, 2011, Shatner, in character as Kirk, voiced a wake-up call for the crew of STS-133
STS-133
STS-133 was the 133rd mission in NASA's Space Shuttle program; during the mission, Space Shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station. It was Discoverys 39th and final mission. The mission launched on 24 February 2011, and landed on 9 March 2011...
in the Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
on its final day docked to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
. His call at 0723 UTC, reminiscent of the over-voicing on the original Star Trek series, was backed by the theme as he said, "Space, the final frontier. These have been the voyages of the Space Shuttle Discovery. Her 30 year mission: To seek out new science. To build new outposts. To bring nations together on the final frontier. To boldly go, and do, what no spacecraft has done before."