Comments on: Abrams On Music And Trek XI Composer Giacchino

By: Andy Patterson

Andy Patterson — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:28:01 +0000

I always hated the droning nothingness of TNG

By: Andy Patterson

Andy Patterson — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:24:37 +0000

#5 Here here.

By: Victor Hugo Carballo

Victor Hugo Carballo — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:15:40 +0000

Errata: i was mentioning David Arnold on the post above. sorry.

By: Victor Hugo Carballo

Victor Hugo Carballo — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:14:58 +0000

32. Chris
Such a good reminder!
The “Stargate” soundtrack was fresh, complex and priceless, and “Independence Day” and really enthusiastic.
I think he did a couple of James Bond movies as well, I even bought these cds at the time, just remember being too keyboard heavy, sadly with nothing salvageable recorded on it.

By: Victor Hugo Carballo

Victor Hugo Carballo — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 03:04:15 +0000

54: CERVANTES
Well said! I do have that John Williams and Boston Pops recording of Alexander Courage Star Theme, from the album “OUT OF THIS WORLD”.
http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=44601

It´s an ecstasy-inducing musical perfection, from one master to another.

James Horner in violins in Stak Trek III were memorable as well.

Well, about the upcoming movie itself, i have to say i´m scared. Verily.
The first big screen movie had Isaac Asimov on board! I´m not reading anywhere this crew is summoning Arthur Clarke or Stephen Hawking
for advice. Please please, where´s Manny Coto when you need him?
Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens?
I´m very afraid of a “spur of the moment” camera shaking “ultimate”like” Michael Bay typr formulaic movie.

By: William

William — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 14:58:02 +0000

#58 Kevin. Thanks for the informative post. Myself, I have a bachelors in Music and studied composition, including taking classes in film scoring (though my career took me in a very different direction). Whenever I see a film the a cue that seems to be strongly influenced by another work, I tend suspect that a temp track was used in production. Temp tracks are already composed music (usualy by famous composers) that a director or producer has spliced into the fim before the music is composed. The purpose is to give the film composer an idea of what sort of “sound” the director would like with the cue. For example, When Leonard Rosenman was composing for ST The Voyage Home, he was probably shown the Hospital chase cue with Bersteins’s Overture to Candide. The result is that it becomes very difficult for the composer to write anything truly original.
By the way, if any wants a great book, really the definitive book on film scoring pick up a copy of “On The Track” by Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright. It’s a facinating book that covers everything from composition techniques to how to conduct script meeting to technical aspects such as using SMPTE time indexes.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 07:29:49 +0000

Since I’m a classical orchestra conductor of symphony,opera and ballet I’ll admit a certain bias, but it does seem to me that the more “classical” the better in terms of Sci-fi scores in general and certainly my beloved Star Trek.

I think the remove from our daily lives that a classicaly inspired movie score has helps take us to another world. Precisely why the Voyage Home score seems so right for that film only is because it is so current, well…”then”, sounding. I mean current in the way of any fun film from the mid 80s was with rather simple straightforward harmonies and so on. Therefore that style in a film which takes/took place in the 80s seemed spot on.

Although I am just now getting around to the Enterprise series thanks to Sci-fi network making it easy to find, I must always turn off the sound during the opening credits since it would be fine music to get me in the mood for a 90’s love story, it doesn’t really get me in the mood to either go into outer space or believe that these actors are in outer space or the future.

Virtually no music for any of the films equals the enormous amount of music J. Goldsmith wrote for the first movie in my opinion. It really carries that film I believe through all of the long visual shots, which in contrast to many detractors I happen to love. His score for “First Contact” is also a fantastic example of telling the tale with music. For instance the moment when the Enterprise-E swoops into the shot to protect the Defiant in the first battle sequence is accompanied by what I think is perhaps the first use of the TNG and TMP theme altered in an arresting way to suggest exactly that situation. Brilliantly handled.

For fans of James Horner’s ST II and III scores I have a suggestion. Get a recording of a work by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev called “Alexander Nyevsky” and have a listen to the “Battle on the Ice” track and enjoy the orginal source of the Battle with Kahn in the Nebula sequence. Another rather blatant lifting by Mr. Horner from Prokofiev is the destruction of the Enterprise in ST III which seems to me to have been clearly “inspired” by a passage near the end of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet. For someone trying to seek that out, it would be a bit hard to find, but it’s in the final sequence of that score when Romeo has discovered Juliets apparently dead body in the crypt and is getting ready to kill himself. Don’t want to be too harsh on J. H. since I readily admit to having no composing talent even of a copying nature and Prokofiev is certianly a swell and appropriate composer from whom to take inspiration.

For those interested in such things, I must encourage you to seek out in addition to the above mentioned works:
Stravinsky – The Rite of Spring – The Firebird – Petrouschka
Wagner – Orchestral Excerpts from the Ring Cylce of Operas
Ravel – Daphnis and Chloe

There are plenty more, but enough is enough from one person.

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 17 Mar 2007 11:14:28 +0000

re 56…. exactly! d

By: Dom

Dom — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 13:11:28 +0000

The fact that Berman’s Treks ended in failure doesn’t mean they were always failing.

By: Doug

Doug — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:42:14 +0000

I’ve not seen Lost yet, and haven’t heard the music. I do get excited about the new score, I have most of them including several classic TOS era cd’s. People don’t realize that this is an enormous body of work encompassing several musical era’s and styles. I’d be hard pressed to create the ultimate best of.

re 31

I get your Knicks analogy, but you are speaking for a lot of Trek fans that don’t agree with you, a production studio that thought Trek was obviously successful enough to make more movies and 3 more series after TNG, a critical base that often gave TNG and DS9 very high points (I think 3 or 4 seasons of DS9 were brilliant), and don’t forget Patrick Stewart was ranked TV’s sexiest male at one point too… I think by TV Guide or Entertainment, I forget.

You know, again, I have my own gripes with that whole era which are largely irrelevant… but whether you liked it or not, Trek was an enormous success up until about the end of Voyager and start of Enterprise.

I know GR created TNG. Berman ran the ship, whether he created anything or not. You may not have liked it, that’s your business. But there is absolutely no qualification in saying “Trek under Berman was a total, and utter failure.” It’s groundless and borderline ridiculous. You just don’t like it, and that’s fine with me.

Doug

PS… You sort of tied me by association to the Fat Shat thing… That’s not me.