"To Boldly Go..."

Alexander Courage who recorded, arguably, the most famous TV show theme in history passed away at his California home on May 15th, age 88.

A well written obituary can be read here.

Michael Giacchino, who is composing the score for the 2009 movie Star Trek, directed by JJ Abrams had this to say;

"I feel that Star Trek owes a great deal to the music of Jerry Goldsmith. His work for the movie series is just amazing. However, in my opinion, Alexander Courage is responsible for the musical heart to the world of Star Trek. I feel that if you were to strip away everything, bit by bit, in order of importance, the last thing you would be holding in your hands would be the sheet music for the opening fanfare to the Star Trek Main Theme. To me, that small piece of music is and always shall be Star Trek."

I agree. I remember hearing the theme at the end of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. With Leonard Nimoy uttering the passage: "Space, the final frontier..." it send a shiver down my spine, as did the time when I first heard the synthesiser version at the beginning of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Goldsmith composed some great music for the film series but the theme will remain as the most memorable.