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La-La Land to release 15-disc original series score set

Nice read. There is a lot of media attention for this release, and I think it says something about the show, it's music, and the hard work that went into this.
 
Fried, 84, is the only survivor among the original "Trek" composers and still plays oboe. At the event, he will perform a suite for oboe and piano based on eight themes he wrote for the series.

Ohh, wow. Too bad I can't be there. I hope the event will be video-recorded (you can't really call it "taped" anymore -- we need a new verb) and shown online -- hopefully through official channels rather than some cheap, shaky phone cam.
 
I was listening, for the 80th time, to the Mace Fight cue sample from Catspaw. It's very much in the style of Gerald Fried's music for The Man from UNCLE, but I find it to be miles better than his work from that show. Primarily because the UNCLE scores became very "mod" and shrill, and the orchestra was ridiculously small. His Trek work has a fuller sound, where UNCLE comes off sounding cheap. A lot of the music was extremely well written, but in the final analysis, Star Trek wins. For me, anyway.

Ohh, wow. Too bad I can't be there. I hope the event will be video-recorded (you can't really call it "taped" anymore -- we need a new verb) and

Maybe we can. Many pros still use digital tape.

I just don't like change.... ;-)
 
I can't decide if I want to refer to this disc as "Cowboys and Indians" or "Cowboys and Aliens". Either applies. :)

SEASON 3, DISC 1

Spectre of the Gun
Music Composed and Conducted by Jerry Fielding
Episode #56, Recorded 7/5/68
Aired #61, 10/25/68

1. Main Title* (soprano version, stereo; arr. Courage, cond. Hatch) 1:01
2. Melkots’ Warning*/Hailing Frequencies* M11/M12 5:04
3. It Is Done! M14 1:04
4. Tombstone M15–20 1:19
5. The Clantons Lost/Death Is Real!/Tack Piano (Weird) M21/M22/M23 1:30
6. Good Morning Gents/Draw Clanton M31/M32 1:03
7. Taos Lightning/Teeth Pulling M33/M34 1:22
8. My Name—Doc Holliday/Love Scene in Old West/Chekov Gets Killed M35–40/M41/M42 4:50
9. Not Yet Our Time M44 0:46
10. One Other Place/Any Way You Can/Ten Minutes M51/M52/M53 1:15
11. We’re Trapped/Shoot Out, Part 1 M54/M55–60 3:15
12. Shoot Out, Part 2/Kirk Wins! M55–60/M61/M61A 1:11
13. It’s Gone Sir M62 0:44
14. No Title/Final Curtain* M63+M63B/M63A 1:18

Total Time: 26:10

*Contains “Theme From Star Trek (TV Series)” by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry

The Paradise Syndrome
Music Composed and Conducted by Gerald Fried
Episode #58, Recorded 7/19/68
Aired #58, 10/4/68

15. Pine Trees/The Amerikinds/Tahiti Syndrome/The Brain Wash M11/M12/M13/M14 3:38
16. Episode Title/Puzzled Kirk/Miramanee/Maximum Warp/Engine Strain M21/M22/M23/M24/M25 3:34
17. Bad Memory*/Breath of Life*/The New God/Deflection M26/M27/M27A/M28–30 3:34
18. Asteroid/Dilithium M31/M31A 1:54
19. Washday/Salish Fluffed/Potter Kirk/Naming the God/Target M32/M33/M34/M35/M36 4:19
20. Lazy Lazer/Joining Day M37/M38–40 1:57
21. Meditating Spock/Wedding Dress/Challenge M41/M42/M42A 1:46
22. The Fight/The Ceremony/Listless Spock/Spock Cheats Doctor/Forest Montage/Troubling Dreams/Mud Map M43/M43A/M45/M46/M47–50/M47–50A/M47–50B/M50A 5:11
23. Forever Cooking/Wind/False God M51/M52/M53 2:50
24. Check-Up/Death to a False God/Mind Fusion M54/M55/M61 2:29
25. Back to Reality/The Right Words/Wounded Girl M62/M62A/M62B 2:15
26. The Right Button/Death of Miramanee/End M63/M64+M64A/M65 3:08
27. End Title* (soprano version, stereo; arr. Courage, cond. Hatch) 0:43

Total Time: 37:58

Total Disc Time: 64:15

*Contains “Theme From Star Trek (TV Series)” by Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry
 
All right! "The Paradise Syndrome" is my favorite Fried score and one of the best overall. Say what you like about season 3's writing, acting, etc. -- most of my favorite scores are from it. I'm particularly looking forward to "Death of Miramanee." There's this really moving sting on the cello (I think) just after Miramanee dies, and it's played almost inaudibly on the Label X album version. I'll be so glad to get the original.

Both of these scores had suite versions on the Label X albums, "Paradise" on Vol. 1 (arranged and conducted by Tony Bremner) and "Spectre" on Vol. 2 (arranged by Clyde Allen, conducted by Bremner). Cues that have not had a version released before include:

"Spectre of the Gun":
Hailing Frequencies
It Is Done!
The Clantons Lost/Death Is Real!/Tack Piano (Weird)*
Good Morning Gents/Draw Clanton
Taos Lightning
Not Yet Our Time
One Other Place/Any Way You Can
Shoot Out, Part 1
Shoot Out, Part 2
It’s Gone Sir
No Title

*Assuming this is the off-key piano music in the saloon, it is included in the Label X suite, but it isn't listed as a distinct track.

Naming differences: "Melkots' Warning" is "Melkot's Warning," "My Name--Doc Holliday" uses a colon instead of a dash.

"The Paradise Syndrome":
Episode Title/Puzzled Kirk
Maximum Warp/Engine Strain
Bad Memory
Deflection
Asteroid
Target
Lazy Lazer
Meditating Spock/Wedding Dress
The Fight
Listless Spock/Spock Cheats Doctor/Forest Montage/Troubling Dreams*/Mud Map
Forever Cooking/Wind
Check-Up/Death to a False God/Mind Fusion
Back to Reality/The Right Words/Wounded Girl
The Right Button
End

*The Label X album includes a cue called "Birth Announcement," between "The Ceremony" and "False God." Perhaps it's the cue called "Troubling Dreams" here?

Labeling differences: "The Amerikinds" is called "The Amerinds," "Washday" is "Wash Day," and "Dilithium" is called "Dilithium Problem."

Looks like the Bremner suite of "Paradise" focused mostly on the planetside thread instead of the shipboard stuff. Hey, doesn't this episode reprise Fried's electric-bass Spock theme from "Amok Time"?
 
Hey, doesn't this episode reprise Fried's electric-bass Spock theme from "Amok Time"?

Yes it does.

Regarding the "sting" during Death of Miramanee, it was a separately recorded overlay. And yes of course we have it. You are going to cry when you hear it.

Neil
 
Regarding the "sting" during Death of Miramanee, it was a separately recorded overlay. And yes of course we have it. You are going to cry when you hear it.

I wouldn't be surprised.

So it was a "sweetener?" Something they decided to add on to give the cue a little more punch when they cut it into the episode? No wonder it was missing from the suite. (No sweets for the suite.)
 
Regarding the "sting" during Death of Miramanee, it was a separately recorded overlay. And yes of course we have it. You are going to cry when you hear it.
Awesome.

That moment is quite wonderful in the episode. I re-watched Paradise Syndrome recently, a year or so ago, and the episode as a whole is cheesy as hell. And it's weird, when Miramanee is wounded and dying – well, the intervening decades have really messed with the way you watch that moment. She's lying in this classic cheesecake pose, clearly arranged for maximum viewing pleasure. She looks fine; and if you've watched any House, it seems like McCoy didn't even try. if House had been there, he would have tried a whole bunch of invasive procedures to save her – she would look like she had received medical attention.

But then Kirk sits with her, and the music swells, and she dies and we get the quiet cello emphasis in the score. And he keeps sitting with her, quietly, as the closing credits roll. It's quite moving.

That is startling. The episode is so cheesy that this obvious ending, that (a) you can see coming from a mile away, and (b) is completely undermined by 4 decades worth of media, should not retain any power at all. And yet it does. Tribute to – well, a bunch of people. Fried. Whoever was the genius who decided to keep rolling with Kirk sitting there, and to use that for the credits. Shatner himself. Reallly interesting.


Total Time: 37:58
Holy cow! That's a long score!

That's a tremendously long score for a ~45 min show. It's the longest, right? Does any other score come close?


(No sweets for the suite.)
Brilliant. ;-)
 
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It certainly seems like a long score; is it made eve longer in the episode with the addition of tracked music? It has been ages since I've seen much of the third season, I don't remember.

I think the episodes come out at about 48 minutes, though, if you eliminate the opening and closing credits. With credits, they usually are 50 minutes. The widely seen syndication versions, of course, are shorter.
 
I wish Steiner, Courage and the rest could see what's being done for their work here.

Such stunning, iconic work, and they aren't here to receive the praise they deserve for it.
 
Oh! Were those trombones sped up to make the, uh, "mewling kittens" sound that we hear in the score when there are a ton of tribbles in the scene? Not sure how to describe that sound any better.

Exactly. A technical way to describe the sound might be a downward glissando, or more accurately portamento -- one note sliding down to another, as a trombone can do.

Nicely done. I play 'bone, and most people have that one wrong. It's a glissando on piano, where a smear (portamento) isn't possible.
 
I wish Steiner, Courage and the rest could see what's being done for their work here.

Such stunning, iconic work, and they aren't here to receive the praise they deserve for it.

Amen! What a nice thought.
 
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Total Time: 37:58
Holy cow! That's a long score!

That's a tremendously long score for a ~45 min show. It's the longest, right? Does any other score come close?

I was just looking at The Music of Star Trek's cue sheet reproductions, and the score for "And the Children Shall Lead" adds up to at least 35 minutes, IIRC.


It certainly seems like a long score; is it made eve longer in the episode with the addition of tracked music? It has been ages since I've seen much of the third season, I don't remember.

I don't remember any tracked music in "The Paradise Syndrome." It was near the start of the season, so the music was pretty much all-new.


I've been trying to figure out what the rest of Volume 3 will be. We have two Steiners, two full Courages, three Dunings, and source music and library/etc. We know from the preview art that Disc 3 will include Courage's Orion dance from "Whom Gods Destroy" and the "Way to Eden" songs. And all three Duning scores are full scores, so I doubt they can fit on one disc.

So I'm guessing disc 2 will be "Elaan of Troyius" and "Spock's Brain," disc 3 will be "The Enterprise Incident," "Plato's Stepchildren," the Orion dance, and the hippie songs, disc 4 will be "And the Children Shall Lead" and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?," and disc 5 will be "The Empath" and library/bonus cues.
 
A technical way to describe the sound might be a downward glissando, or more accurately portamento -- one note sliding down to another, as a trombone can do.

Nicely done. I play 'bone, and most people have that one wrong. It's a glissando on piano, where a smear (portamento) isn't possible.

I'm afraid the credit is owed more to Wikipedia than to me.

Props for the due diligence, then!

We always call them glisses, by the way, even though that's wrong.

Portamento is less often a big smear, more often a common inflection often heard in orchestra recordings from bygone days, in string section work where they swoop up into notes together. It was uber-common the first half of the 20th c. and was part of Eugene Ormandy's "Philadelphia sound." Now it sounds cheesy and dated, but was common performance practice. You'll hear it in a lot of classic movie scores. It's like how Sinatra glides/swoops up into notes as part of his crooner style. I'll bet the strings in Fantasia and Gone with the Wind do it a lot, for you movie score fans. Once it's in your ears that they're doing it, it's hard to ignore, like an announcer with a pet phrase or something.
 
Speaking of stingers, is the infamous "Spock Pinch" stinger imbedded somewhere within the library tracks? I believe it's sourced from an original cue within Charlie X. I'm old, and my memory is fading, so someone can correct me on the original source if I am wrong.

Only about four days to go...
 
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