Alternate Version of "The Enterprise" by Jerry Goldsmith

I love the alternate "Spock's Arrival".

 

Is that one available on YouTube?

 

Don't get me wrong. I like the music very much as well, but it is pretty much bookended by the same music that is used in the film, and after the totally successful use of the mysterious Spock motif in the final film, the alternate cue is just so fruity in comparison. It's such a contrast and I suppose my brain is just so biased to the music I've listened to for so long.

Not currently. I guess no one's taken on the project like the other two yet. And I guess I am still a bit confused when it comes to motif and theme. I tend to use the terms somewhat interchangeably, in error.

 

Jerry went back to the alternate "Spock's Arrival" for his Star Trek V score. A variation of it can be heard under Scotty's log entry early in the film.

Neil

 

Well, they're at least overlapping in their meanings. I don't have a music dictionary on hand, but my impression is that "motif" by itself means any recurring melody in a score, while "theme" is another word for "leitmotif," which means (I think) a "leading" motif, which is a recurring melody that's identified with a specific character, entity, or concept and is used to accompany or represent it throughout a score, or in this case is simply the dominant, unifying motif of the score as a whole. So a theme is a motif, but a motif is not necessarily a theme. (Although I may be drawing the distinction more sharply than it actually is.)

EDIT: No, wait, I just remembered I do have a music textbook on hand: Music: Ways of Listening by Elliott Schwartz (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1982). Its glossary defines "theme" as "a distinctive musical statement that serves as a basis for part or all of a longer composition" (p. 520). It defines "motive" (the English equivalent of "motif") as "a single phrase, or fragment of phrase, that recurs many times in original or altered form" (p. 517). So a motif can be a building block of a theme, or just something that recurs without being a full-fledged theme in itself. In this case, I'd say the TMP theme has two main motifs, the A motif used in the first eight bars and the B motif used in the second four to eight bars. The motif in these first-draft compositions was very similar to the first half of the A motif, but wasn't fully enough developed to serve as a theme.

And I think I'm wrong about "theme" and "leitmotif" being synonyms, too -- a leitmotif is a motif/motive that's associated with a specific character or idea, but that doesn't necessarily correspond to a "musical statement" that's the basis for a composition as a whole.

And here's what Wikipedia has to say:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motif_(music)

So a motif can be a whole theme or just part of a theme. And the low, pulsing Starfleet ostinato from the TMP score is a figure.

 

Thank you. That was very enlightening.

 

"Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

I asked a guy who was doing these, and here you go -- the alternate of "Spock's Arrival":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gdWYxgem5Q

 

I also believe that a bit of the alternate "The Enterprise" can be heard in the shuttle crash sequence in TFF, just as Sulu "steps on it" and just as the Galileo scrapes through the edge of the shuttle bay doors.

 

Goldsmith's theme for the Enterprise in the Motion Picture is awesome, even though the scene drags on way too long with Kirk jacking off to the Enterprise.

 

Re: "Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

Hmm... definitely too cheery to fit the tone of the sequence. Also too generic, using the basic motif of the overall score rather than Spock's theme in particular (although one could argue that the use of that music in the final film could spoil the attentive listener on who was in the shuttle).

On hearing yet another iteration of the prototype theme for the film, I've realized... it sounds like a theme from a TV movie. It's like Goldsmith wasn't thinking cinematically enough. He really turned it around on the second try, though, coming up with one of the most amazing scores he ever did.

Although there's a moment in this initial version, just when the shuttle is pulling away as seen through the lounge windows, where the not-quite-a-theme motif almost sounds like the final theme for a moment, like he was getting closer to it but hadn't quite found it yet.

 

Re: "Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

What DOES work in the alternate for "Spock's Arrival" is the more dramatic build-up to the moment of his appearance. Wish that small part had made it into the final version.

 

Re: "Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

^^Hm... I thought that part (of the alternate cue) was overdone, myself.

 

Re: "Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

Yeah, the music seemed to telegraph to much what was going to be dramatic, Spock. The version in the film built better to it, making the docking of the shuttle more mysterious and then when the doors open the music strikes precisely where it should.

 

Re: "Spock's Arrival" (alternate)

veeeeeeery nice!

y'know if you compare this sequence to ENT's first ep where Trip shows Archer his ship... that scene is so blase, so non-dramatic ("great, ya chipped the paint!").

there's no real moment that should belong solely to their awe and reverence for the "machine" that will take them to the stars -- something that's so apparent here in this 6-odd min sequence.

I'm so proud that the makers of the Trek-that-was would think to GIFT its viewers (and KNOW that it would be highly appreciated) this kind of a sequence in a film.

I remember when I first saw this back in the early '80s (I was a tad bit late for the premiere), I was astounded and awestruck at the sheer majesty and emotionality of this scene and its participants.

Enterprise the ship deserves a scene like this, not your usual whambam treatment that's so prevalent these days.