Favorite Closing Credits Version of TMP Theme

[CoveTom]

We all know that the legendary Jerry Goldsmith theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture has been used throughout the decades in many different capacities. I'd like to know what your favorite arrangement of it is that was used in the closing credits of a film or series.

For me personally, it is The Final Frontier. The combination of the TMP theme with the Klingon theme works well and I like the particular orchestrations and mix that he did for that particular film.

What do you think?

(For Picard, BTW, I limited it to just the arrangement used in the final episode, because that was the only new recording of it. The closing credits for the rest of the season used the recording of the theme from First Contact.)

 

[NCC-73515]

Aren't they all the same music, just with a bit of the intro of that specific movie in the middle?

 

[FormerLurker]

Yes and no. New arrangements, new recordings, and the added themes for specific films/shows make each one unique, even as they all have the same basic theme.

 

[CoveTom]

Aren't they all the same music, just with a bit of the intro of that specific movie in the middle?

The arrangements, orchestrations, sound mix, and even tempo actually vary quite a bit between the different recordings. I can tell a distinct difference in the TMP theme itself as used in TFF versus how it's used in FC. Or, for another example, the tempo is noticeably slower in Nemesis and Picard than it is on the other occasions. Finally, TNG uses an arrangement that is shorter and includes far fewer instruments in the orchestra than the film counterparts.

 

[Kor]

Yes, the orchestration and arrangement make a huge difference as the cinematic versions sound so much more grand and expansive than the TNG rendition.

Kor

 

[FredH]

For me it’s TMP — it’s full of brassy energy in a way that even TFF doesn’t feel to me, and TNG certainly doesn’t.

 

[Firebird]

The Motion Picture does it the best. Tightest arrangement, the best "room tone" and studio reverb sound.

Goldsmith fell too much in love with dousing his recordings in more and more reverb during the last couple decades of his life, as well as a touch too much of synthesizers as well for my liking. The Final Frontier is the runner-up, but it falls a tad due to the touches I mentioned.

And personally, I'm not that fond of his scores for First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis in general. There's some good themes in there, but on the whole, they're not quite on the level of his work from the 60s thru the 80s. His end credits arrangement for the theme in each movie is too slow.