"It knows only that it needs, Commander. But, like so many of us… it does not know what.": swashbuckler332

swashbuckler332

"It knows only that it needs, Commander. But, like so many of us… it does not know what."

Nov 05, 2011 06:29

EDIT: This album was updated on July 2, 2012 in order to take advantage of the better quality sources provided for the material from Star Trek: The Motion Picture because of the new La-La Land set, and that of Star Trek: First Contact, courtesy of the new GNP Crescendo release, and a new edit of "Let's Get Out of Here" from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier inspired by mortimusmonk that combines elements from the film tracks as well as the album track. I was satisfied with the original assembly, and so there was no significant changes other than the use of remastered material, which in some cases required new edits and in others changed the transitions slightly. The main entry has been updated to reflect the changes.

My interest in film music is tied very closely to Jerry Goldsmith's involvement with the Star Trek series. I've said on many occasions that if Star Trek: The Motion Picture had been a better film, I may have been less inclined to be entranced by its music score. The film music I found interesting in my childhood became a full-blown passion in my adolescence, one which has persisted to this day.

And yet, with all of the personal involvement I have with Goldsmith's Star Trek music, I never felt that I got any of mixes I had made of his contribution to the franchise exactly right. Red Alert was a voluminous two-disc set that was overlong and unfocused, while Battle Stations, my attempt at making a more concise album, always seemed a bit sloppy to me. I wanted to return to this after I revised Silver Screen Star Trek, but two things stopped me: the dire sound of any unreleased music from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and the lack of any material beyond the original album of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Recently, however, this has changed; La-La-Land addressed the latter issue with their comprehensive edition of the score whilst a fan did a superb job cleaning up the recording sessions from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which allowed me to re-evaluate both the tone and structure of the new album.

While there are similarities, the new disc has a more introspective spin than the previous two. With some techniques I taught myself while working on my Lord of the Rings compilation (which I have completed; the liner notes are extremely in-depth and will be posted once I've finished them), I labored to keep my touch more subtle than previously possible, concentrating less on building suites and more on crafting a satisfying whole with compelling transitions. "Battle Stations" no longer really worked as a title as it was too aggressive for this more lyrical take on the material. Instead, I named it after "A Busy Man," a cue from Star Trek V that appears as track 11 on this album and could as easily be used to describe the extremely prolific Goldsmith himself.

MAIN TITLE and KLINGON BATTLE (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 6:55
THE FUTURE BEGINS * (Main Title from Star Trek: First Contact) 2:44
THE MOUNTAIN (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 2:06
THE ENTERPRISE (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 5:55
BATTLE STATIONS (Star Trek: Nemesis) 1:37
THE RIKER MANEUVER (Star Trek: Insurrection) 2:58
NO GOODBYES (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 0:48
NO HARM (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 1:22
VEJUR FLYOVER (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 4:51
FULLY FUNCTIONAL (Star Trek: First Contact) 2:20
A BUSY MAN (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:34
NEW SIGHT (Star Trek: Insurrection) 4:14
MAIN TITLE (Star Trek: Voyager) 1:45

LEAVING DRYDOCK (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 3:28
WITHOUT HELP (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:07
A NEW ENDING (Star Trek: Nemesis) 2:54
EVACUATE (Star Trek: First Contact) 2:07
NOT FUNCTIONING (Star Trek: Insurrection) 1:40
GAMES (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 3:41
LET'S GET OUT OF HERE (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:45
LET'S GET TO WORK (Star Trek: Nemesis) 2:39
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (Star Trek: First Contact - Joel Goldsmith) 5:08
COSMIC THOUGHTS (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 1:09
THE MELD and A GOOD START (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 5:32
LIFE IS A DREAM * (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 3:53

Music Composed and Conducted by
JERRY GOLDSMITH

( 1 9 2 9 - 2 0 0 4 )

Except
THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX
Composed by
JOEL GOLDSMITH

* - Contains "Theme from STAR TREK"
Composed by
ALEXANDER COURAGE

Orchestrators
JEFF ATMAJIAN …
NANCY BEACH …
ALEXANDER COURAGE …
HUMMIE MANN …
MARK McKENZIE …
ARTHUR MORTON …
CONRAD POPE …
FRED STEINER …
First Contact
The Final Frontier
The Motion Picture, First Contact, Insurrection
Voyager
Nemesis
The Motion Picture, The Final Frontier, First Contact
Nemesis
The Motion Picture

Engineers
JOHN NEAL …
BRUCE BOTNICK …
The Motion Picture
The Final Frontier, Voyager, First Contact, Insurrection, Nemesis

Additional Musicans
JOEL GOLDSMITH …
CRAIG HUXLEY …
LIONEL NEWMAN …
Electronics (The Motion Picture, The Final Frontier, First Contact)
Blaster Beam (The Motion Picture)
Co-Conductor (The Motion Picture)
Digital Keyboards by YAMAHA

MAIN TITLE and KLINGON BATTLE (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 6:55

The main title march from the first Star Trek film would have been the first time that audiences would ever hear the theme that would come to represent Star Trek almost as closely as Alexander Courage's fanfare. Bold and brassy, this initial presentation of Goldsmith's title march was written during the transitional period between Goldsmith's more staccato arrangements of the 70s into the more ornate sound that he would use in the 80s on. This is reflected in the differences in sound between this reading of the march and the version that appears in "Life is a Dream" from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (track 25); the latter performance is lusher and more full - but it lacks the militaristic 'snap' that it had in its original incarnation here, where it played against a black screen with white titles (albeit in a really cool font). Dennis McCarthy would arrange this theme at Gene Roddenberry's request to serve as the title music for Star Trek: The Next Generation but the Star Trek V arrangement is the one that Goldsmith would use with little variation on his subsequent contributions to the franchise.

After the title sequence is over, the film opens with three magnificently detailed Klingon heavy cruisers approaching a large cloud. The mist itself is represented by the sound of the Blaster Beam, an instrument consisting of a series of hollow metal rods that are beat upon and rubbed to create otherworldly sounds. The Blaster Beam was created and performed by Craig Huxley (who appeared as an actor in the episode of the original series "And the Children Shall Lead"), and has appeared in several other science-fiction film scores (John Barry's The Black Hole, James Horner's Battle Beyond the Stars, Wolfen and his two Star Trek features, Laurence Rosenthal's Meteor), but it was in Star Trek: The Motion Picture that it is used to its fullest cinematic advantage as the musical avatar of V'Ger. The Klingons, on the other hand, are accompanied by a hunter's clarion call on trumpets, punctuated with castenets. Goldsmith would return to this theme to represent the Klingons in Star Trek V as well as Commander Worf (Michael Dorn) in First Contact and Insurrection; it also was the basis upon which all subsequent musical representations of Klingons, be they James Horner's variation on his Khan theme in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock or Dennis McCarthy, Ron Jones and Jay Chattaway's treatment of the race on the Star Trek spin-off series. The action cuts away from the conflict between V'Ger and the Klingons to a Federation communications station, which Goldsmith treats with shimmering textures as he also introduces the throbbing motif he associates with Starfleet throughout the first film's score (a motif which he would revisit again in Nemesis, twenty three years later). Spooky sonorities and Blaster Beam hits lead into harmonic chaos as the Klingon ships are overcome. The track concludes with two slams consisting of a three-note motif that will later be associated with V'Ger.

The introduction to the march was different in the original version of the film than it was from the album. The film version was conducted by Lionel Newman, and the preamble favored the snare drums for a more strident, authoritative opening, as opposed to the bass drum which was employed in Goldsmith's own performance for the album (which is what appears in the "Director's Edition" DVD of the film; the Blu-ray is of the original theatrical cut). This track begins the film take to give the album's opening the immediacy of the film version of the title march, but I switch over to the remastered version of the grander album take for the body of the march, then back to the film version for "Klingon Battle." I placed an index marker at the transition point between "Main Title" and "Klingon Battle."

THE FUTURE BEGINS (Main Title from Star Trek: First Contact) 2:44

Contains "Theme from Star Trek" Composed by Alexander Courage

The Alexander Courage fanfare introduces the body of the album. Jerry Goldsmith's main theme for Star Trek: First Contact is a noble piece for English horn and strings that represents the Gene Roddenberry's future, which is what is at stake in the film. This piece was quite a pleasant surprise to me when the film opened, as I was expecting the the familiar march and instead received this beautiful theme, which is never explored in the score as beautifully as it is in its long form over the credits. The original track led into Joel Goldsmith's menacing "Locutus" cue, but this album segues to…

THE MOUNTAIN (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 2:06

…Yosemite Park, where Kirk (William Shatner) is climbing El Capitan without any gear. This piece of wistful Americana represents the friendship of Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelly) in Star Trek V, which was one of the few deftly-handled elements of the film. This theme will be revisited in "Cosmic Thoughts" (track 23)

THE ENTERPRISE (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 5:55

The throbbing "Starfleet" motif opens this iconic track that showcases the majesty of Goldsmith's title march. The Kubrickian scene of Kirk being shuttled over to the Enterprise by Scotty (James Doohan) was intended to reintroduce the ship to the audience. The composer had originally began working on this scene before the title march had been composed; it was, in fact, the very cue that Robert Wise objected needed to be more thematic in nature. The original version of the cue is a very nice piece in its own right (and many of the moments that don't include the theme are the same as this version), but Wise was correct to ask Goldsmith to finalize his theme; the composer took the basics of the cue, composed the title march and returned to the scene, creating this flowing ode to the ship. The first half of the piece is more delicate than the first as the shuttle flies around the drydock; as the shuttle turns around and approaches the Enterprise, the theme rings out from a proud trumpet then strings, then the full orchestra joins in leading to militaristic flourish to close off the cue.

BATTLE STATIONS (Star Trek: Nemesis) 1:37

Mounting bass drums and a noble variation on the title march build up momentum as the Enterprise E mounts up for combat. This cue was omitted from the original album, and gave the title to one of this album's previous iterations.

THE RIKER MANEUVER (Star Trek: Insurrection) 2:58

This is one of the action showpieces of Star Trek: Insurrection. The cutting brass is joined by pattering electronics and stabbing string figures that hearken back to Goldsmith's aggressive music for the Rambo films for a daring space battle that is a visual tribute to the Mutara Nebula sequence in Nicholas Meyer's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The Son'a theme creeps up underneath the mounting tension, only to be interrupted by more angry brass.

NO GOODBYES (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 0:48

This cue would have been heard as Lieutenant Ilia (Persis Khambatta) meets her old flame Decker (Stephen Collins) and asks him why he left her on Delta IV without saying goodbye; Ilia's sensitive theme was heard as the film's overture (Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Walt Disney's John Barry-scored sci-fi epic The Black Hole were the last two films to use this roadshow-style device). The film version of the cue finally became available on La-La Land's comprehensive issue of the complete score, but upon reflection I decided that I liked the alternate version in this context better and retained it.

NO HARM (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 1:22

This is a contemplative piece built around the motif for Spock's half-brother Sybock (Lawrence Luckinbill). It is heard in the film as Spock recognizes him and goes to the observation deck to think before being joined by Kirk and McCoy. The La-La-Land release of the complete Star Trek V score yielded this gem, a cue that I'd wanted for years but was not included on the Epic album.

VEJUR FLYOVER (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 4:51

An oppressive three-note motif (blaster beam followed by tuba) that represents the might and majesty of V'Ger opens this track as the Enterprise flies over the gargantuan intruder. A meandering melody soon emerges which is built out of elements of Ilia's theme, signaling how their destinies will soon be intertwined. This is one of the longest special effects sequences in the film, but that also meant the Goldsmith had plenty of room to develop his thematic material and explore various different tonalities to create a distinctive soundscape; this is one of the tracks that really showcases the Blaster Beam. Goldsmith actually composed most of this score to leader as the effects had not been completed; he built much of the cue for this and "The Cloud" (which appeared on my Vistas: Alien Landscapes compilation) around short repeating cels of music that could easily be shortened. While this did not end up occurring in the theatrical cut of the film due to the ridiculous time constraints (the final prints of the film had not yet dried when they were shipped to theaters), the 2001 "director's edition" DVD tightens these scenes, with the edits in the music being imperceptible as the score was designed to accommodate them. The scope of the (still impressive) special effects work is mirrored in the power of the orchestral surges, in which Goldsmith took advantage of the Twentieth Century Fox soundstage's pipe organ.

FULLY FUNCTIONAL (Star Trek: First Contact) 2:20

Forbidding bells introduce the monolithic seven-note theme for fugal electronics (similar in tonality to Howard Shore's main motif Videodrome) that Goldsmith uses to represent the Borg. Ethereal passages for electronics and strings are heard as the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) tempts Data (Brent Spiner) with the experience of sensation.

A BUSY MAN (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:34

This cue opens with a questing figure based on Sybok's theme for strings and French horn; this gives way to a beautiful melody for the Sha-Ka-Ri planet, first heard on electronics, then on strings. The last full quotation of the theme was tracked into the end titles of the film (Track 25). There is a brief quotation of the Klingon theme that as the Enterprise's pursuer goes unnoticed while the crew stares at relatively unimpressive visual effects. This is the film version of the cue, which has a slightly different edit point than the album version, but is built out of the same takes. After reviewing the tone of the new album, I decided that "Battle Stations" was too aggressive a title for this mix, and decided that "A Busy Man" worked not only as a reference to the track but to workaholic Goldsmith himself.

NEW SIGHT (Star Trek: Insurrection) 4:14

Goldsmith created a warm idyllic theme for the Ba'ku, which is explored here as the Enterprise crew begin to experience the benefits of the Briar Patch. The scene happens to contain a rather beautiful sunrise at the melodic crescendo as Geordi (LeVar Burton) views one for the first time with his own eyes.

Interesting Star Trek trivia expressed in a single run-on sentence: In Star Trek: Enterprise, Doctor Arik Soong (Brent Spiner) hopes to take the Augments he raised to the Briar Patch featured in Star Trek: Insurrection; he explains that the Klingon name for it is "Klach D'Kel Brakt," which is the site of a great Klingon victory over the Romulans by the Kor (John Calicos), who commemorates the event in a holosuite on his first return to Star Trek since "Errand of Mercy" in the Deep Space Nine episode "Blood Oath."

MAIN TITLE (Star Trek: Voyager) 1:45

Goldsmith was tapped to compose an original theme for the new Star Trek show that would be one of the flagship series on Paramount's new television network (which, coincidentally, was exactly what Star Trek: Phase II, the television project that Paramount morphed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture following the success of Star Wars, was meant to be). Goldsmith responded by contributing a flowing theme that reflects the awe-inspiring visuals of the title sequence and the notion of a lost starship. This questing theme bears much resemblance to the material that Goldsmith was working on in the initial sessions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, before the title march was finalized. In previous versions of this mix I edited out the electronic crescendo at the conclusion of this piece, in this case I chose to leave it alone. This track concludes "Side One" of the album.

LEAVING DRYDOCK (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 3:28

Side two opens with this setting of the title march built around the throbbing "Starfleet" motif. The theme has never sounded prouder than it does here. This sequence is, in fact, one of the long special effects setpieces, but unlike most of the others in the film, it never feels leaden because the unified and militaristic sound Goldsmith created generates so much excitement (Elmer Bernstein's scoring of the Exodus scenes of The Ten Commandments similarly enlivens the footage, despite the length of the sequence).

WITHOUT HELP (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:07

After a sprightly take on Sybok's motif, the theme introduced in Star Trek: The Motion Picture's "Klingon Battle" (track 1) returns here with a vengeance as Captain Klaa (Todd Bryant) attacks the Enterprise as the away team attempts to return in a shuttlecraft. As with the title march, this theme also sounds rather different coming from the Goldsmith in 1989 than it did from him in 1979. This is the album edit of this energetic cue with several flourishes. Interestingly, one of the variations on his own Klingon theme towards the end of the cue actually literally states Ron Jones' Klingon theme for Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was, of course, inspired by the theme as it appears in The Motion Picture.

A NEW ENDING (Star Trek: Nemesis) 2:54

Despite the mess of the resulting film, the attempt to build a psychologically deep opponent for Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) for Star Trek: Nemesis gave Jerry Goldsmith one of his most engaging canvases. His theme to represent the relationship of Picard and Shinzon (Tom Hardy) is developed throughout the score but only fully explored in the film's end credits, where it doubles as an elegy for Data (Brent Spiner).

EVACUATE (Star Trek: First Contact) 2:07

This cue has an explosive beginning featuring a rousing bass line against the Borg theme as Troi begins the countdown for the launch of the Phoenix and the evacuation of the Enterprise proceeds. The second part features a reprise of the "First Contact" theme as Picard apologizes to Worf (Michael Dorn) for previously calling him a coward, affirming their friendship.

NOT FUNCTIONING (Star Trek: Insurrection) 1:40

This is a muscular cue that, as with "The Riker Maneuver" (track 6) recalls the composer's work on the Rambo films. The brass and strings are augmented by pattering electronics that Goldsmith uses to characterize this score; over the characteristic Goldsmith action figures one can hear the aggressive Son'a theme ring out.

GAMES (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 3:41

Ilia's theme bursts forth as Decker manages to get an emotional response from the Ilia-probe sent by V'Ger, but the Blaster Beam and glass rods intrude as it returns back to its cold, unfeeling aspect. A tense moment occurs as the action cuts to Spock stealing a spacesuit (the take that was featured on the 20th anniversary edition of the soundtrack album was a different one and featured an audible anomaly here, like some sort of string broke). The rest of the cue features soaring renditions of Ilia's theme that are interrupted by forbidding statements of V'Ger's music. The Blaster Beam/tuba motif is contrasted with a glass harmonica to emphasize the alien-ness of V'Ger, with the rhapsodic music for Ilia's theme growing organically out of it. The dark interruption technique is one that Goldsmith would use to its most effective in "Let's Get Her" cue in Poltergeist (listen to the score when Tangina [Zelda Rubinstein] says "…she's not alone;" if you aren't terrified, you should probably head into the light yourself).

LET'S GET OUT OF HERE (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 4:45

Sybok discovers he was lured to the planet by an ersatz God (George Murdock), who begins chasing Kirk. Meanwhile, however, Captain Klaa has ordered his ship to attack the Enterprise, giving Goldsmith a chance to give his Klingon theme another serious workout, including a quieter version heard as Spock implores General Kordd (Charles Cooper) to act, and an impressive setting when the Klingon ship looms in front of Kirk. This is mostly Goldsmith's album edit of this cue, which is tighter and more concise than the film version, with a slight tuck at the beginning and the addition of the percussion hits for the appearance of the Bird of Prey that appeared on the film versions but not on the album.

LET'S GET TO WORK (Star Trek: Nemesis) 2:39

This exciting action cue features some rousing variations on both the title march and Shinzon's theme as the battle between the Enterprise and the Scimitar commences. The rousing rhythms and muscular brass of this piece is one that would fit into Goldsmith's output in the early 80s. This is another cue that wasn't included on the album.

THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (Star Trek: First Contact) 5:08

Composed by Joel Goldsmith based on themes composed by Jerry Goldsmith

The inclusion of this track may seem a bit strange as it is not composed by Jerry Goldsmith, but rather his son Joel, who was brought on First Contact to contribute additional cues when the short post-production schedule began to impact the scoring. Joel worked with his father's thematic material, but his cues tended to be some of the more action-oriented. While three other Joel Goldsmith cues, "Locutus," "Retreat" and "39.1 Degrees Celsius" do appear on the album, this one, which is the climax of First Contact, does not, perhaps because it hadn't been recorded in time for inclusion on the album. The breaking of the light barrier is a pivotal moment in the "history" of Star Trek, and Joel Goldsmith provides exciting bursts of the title march accompanied proud brass fanfares as the Phoenix accelerates to warp speed; the two storylines converge as the Data declines to destroy the ship and rebels against the Borg Queen. There is a brief moment illustrative of the formerly bitter Zephram Cochrane's (James Cromwell) sudden sense of wonder at seeing Earth from farther away than any man ever before had, and by the conclusion of the track the formerly oppressive Borg theme has been reduced to a single plaintive horn call.

COSMIC THOUGHTS (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 1:09

This is a reprise of the Americana theme for Kirk, Spock and McCoy's friendship introduced in "The Mountain" (track 3), but while there it was grand and expansive, here it is quiet but intimate. This quiet but expressive cue was not included on the original album, but was included in La-La-Land's edition of the complete score; here it not only adds a sense of symmetry to this album, but changes the tone from the more confrontational music of the previous few tracks to a more human dimension.

THE MELD and A GOOD START (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) 5:32

The V'Ger material now takes on a triumphant air as its goal is fulfilled in a blaze of impressive special effects. Elements of "Vejur Flyover" (track 9) and "Games" (track 19) are heard, but instead of cold and oppressive, here they have taken on the aspects of Ilia's theme and sound warm and hopeful. The Blaster Beam is heard for the last time in this track, culminating in its use along with organ and tuba in the orgasmic presentation of V'Ger's motif as V'Ger combines with Decker and becomes a new life form, the music lending the sequence a quasi-religious dimension (I slightly augmented the climax of "The Meld" with the blaster beam run-up that is heard in the film edit of the cue). A quieter version of the title march is heard; this is where the track on the original LP concluded, but the expanded editions thankfully presented Fred Steiner's further variations on the theme for the film's denouement. The throbbing Starfleet motif returns, ushering in a reprise of the arrangements of the title march heard in "The Enterprise" (track 4) as the ship beautifully glides away and warps out, and the same flourish that closed off the former cue does this one as well, capping the film as the legend "The human adventure is just beginning" optimistically appears on the screen. I placed an index marker at the demarcation at the transition point between "The Meld" and "A Good Start."

LIFE IS A DREAM (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) 3:53

Contains "Theme from Star Trek" Composed by Alexander Courage

Jerry Goldsmith's return to the franchise in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier brought with it an exciting new take on his familiar theme, which had over the previous three years been re-introduced to audiences as the title music from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The orchestrations for the main title are very different (more in keeping with his latter-era style), a euphoric take on the more disciplined main title of the first film (track 1); I grafted the film version of the main titles to the film version of "Life Is a Dream." In the film, a piece of "A Busy Man" (track 11) is oafishly spliced into this track; this was never reproduced on an album and not replicated here. The Klingon theme is arranged as a march here and features the electronic ram's horn call heard in the film but absent from the original album mix. The title march reprises in much the same way that the end titles for The Motion Picture did, although the extension on the last quotation of the theme is much more elaborate (I have often wondered if this was in some way a reference to the Dennis McCarthy arrangement of his march for The Next Generation, which omitted the extension completely in the first season). With the Courage fanfare and the restatement of Goldsmith's two most popular recurring themes - the very two that were showcased in the opening track - the album is brought to an appropriate and satisfying conclusion.

film music, james horner, jerry goldsmith, my mixes, sandy courage, ron jones, star trek