Michael Giacchino’s name has now been added to the long list of accomplished Star Trek composers, having written the massive orchestral score to J.J. Abram’s eleventh film in the long-running franchise.
While the music maintains the nobility and sheer scope of a typical Trek score, it is more saturated with Giacchino’s own personal musical style and tendencies than with any noticeable references to the great Goldsmith and Horner scores of the past films in the franchise.
It is truly an original score, both in general and in the world of Star Trek, and it proves as thrilling and refreshing as one could hope for in a reboot of such a long-lasting franchise.
Giacchino's New Star Trek Theme
Giacchino’s main theme is introduced without hesitation in the minute-long first track, “Star Trek,” where it receives an initially calm rendering on French horn before growing more intense and exhausting itself in an explosive brass cluster. The two tracks immediately following, “Nailin’ the Kelvin” and “Labor of Love” underscore the prologue scene in the film.
The first of these two is a frenetic, rhythmic action variation on the villain Nero’s theme, used here as a suspense motif. It is cleverly interwoven with Giacchino’s new Trek theme in a superbly anguished fashion, and when it transitions to the surprisingly resigned (almost peaceful) tragedy of “Labor of Love,” the emotional impact is no less than arresting.
The new Trek theme is ubiquitous on the album: it appears in nearly every track and undergoes every imaginable variation. While it is not the only theme in the score, its ever-present nature certainly makes it the more memorable musical idea in the score.
It receives some magnificent, thrilling performances on brass in “Enterprising Young Men” (an outstanding album highlight), is accompanied by apocolyptic choir in “Nero Death Experience,” and is used as counterpoint to Alexander Courage’s original Star Trek TV theme in the stunning “End Credits” suite.
Other Themes in Michael Giacchino's Star Trek Score
Other themes include a minor “adventure theme,” used sparingly and rarely in a large-scale fashion, Nero’s theme (a wickedly percussive theme with the throatiest low-range brass work heard in recent cinema), and Spock’s lovely, erhu-rendered theme, a much more ethnic and emotional theme than the character has traditionally received.
These secondary character themes, along with unabashed renditions of the traditional Star Trek fanfare and TV series themes at the end of the album, make for a uniquely rich and rewarding album experience.
Disappointingly Short Soundtrack Album
That album, however, is noticeably too short at just under 45 minutes in length. With a reported 100 minutes of score in the film, one cannot shake the feeling that the album is under-representative of the score as a whole, a double shame when considering that the score is as solid and entertaining as it is.
With a normal audio CD capable of holding 35 more minutes than the Star Trek album does, it is easy to become dissatisfied with the album. There is simply too much good music not contained on the commercial product for it to be a satisfying experience.
Conclusion
All in all, Michael Giacchino’s score to Star Trek is a huge, majestic and thrilling score which will be easily enjoyed by most score fans. What it lacks is a distinct, defining connection to any of the Star Trek scores of the past and a satisfactory album presentation, but neither of these detriments should hinder one from enjoying one of the most exciting orchestral science-fiction scores of recent memory. Recommended!
See also: Composers of Star Trek, Up Soundtrack Review, Michael Giacchino: His Music
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