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The music of Star Trek, part 1
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Alexander Courage from American Archive of Television
Alexander Courage's theme music for the original Star Trek series, often described as "soaring" and "anthemic", is familiar to millions of people around the world. The 1960s gave birth to many memorable television themes, none more memorable than this.
The theme played over the opening and closing credits of the show, which aired 1966-69. The wordless melody was sung by soprano Loulie Jean Norman; this theme was re-recorded in the 2006 "remastered" version of the series by CBS with Elin Carlson's voice. Wikipedia notes that the Enterprise sound effect heard when the ship crosses the screen was vocalized by Courage himself in the original version.
Courage has referred to Richard Whiting's "Beyond the Blue Horizon" an inspiration; he said he wanted a "long thing that... keeps going out into space... over a fast moving accompaniment." For his full remarks see the 2000 interview with Courage on YouTube.com from the Archive of American Television.
Little-known facts about Alexander Courage's Star Trek theme:
• Gene Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme, without Courage's knowledge, so he could claim a half-share of the music's performance royalties.
• Nichelle Nichols recorded a disco version of the theme (with different lyrics from Roddenberry's) in the 1970s for her Out of This World album.
• Trumpeter Maynard Ferguson recorded a jazz fusion version released on his 1977 Conquistador album; Larry King used this for theme music for his radio show for a time.
• This year Courage's theme music was used as a reveille for the mission crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis.
In Part 2 and Part 3: More on the musical legacy of Star Trek, including the contributions of Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Dennis McCarthy and Michael Giacchino.
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