I wanted to weigh in here on Rosenman.
I am neither a musician or any kind of expert on music theory. As opposed to the scores from other Trek films, I don't really enjoy listening his soundtrack to ST4. But I don't know that this is necessarily a reflection of his talent (or lack thereof).
Rosenman was a classically trained composer, from an earlier era in film. An era when film scores were not necessarily expected to be...er, "musical".. which is to say, not made of catchy melodies or themes. Maybe you get one with the overture, but unless it was a musical, the incidental music was only there to provide context and emotions for the scene, without calling attention to itself. But this in itself takes a lot of understanding of musical knowledge. To that end, I think the score for TVH works just fine. It is light and comedic in the places that are lighthearted, somber in the more serious parts of the film, it drives the action and tension during the rescue of the whales. I don't fault the score on these merits. If we are going to look at the decisions Rosenman made, we have to also take into account what the director was looking for.
Had Nimoy wanted, I think Rosenman would have adapted the themes and ideas that Horner set up in ST2 and 3 (IMHO he did a very nice adaptation of the TOS theme for the opening titles). I think Nimoy very consciously wanted something very different, and make a very deliberate "break" from the TWOK and TSFS music style.
He may have wanted to put his own stamp on the film. TSFS was very much Harve Bennett's movie. Nimoy himself said he was still learning with TSFS and it wasn't until TVH that he felt he had enough experience and credibility to assert his vision and preferences over Bennett. So it isn't surprising that he opted to go with "his" composer instead of the status quo established by Bennett. And I think he made the right call.
Not because of any shortcomings on Horner's part. I think he was more than capable -- the slow jazz and swing in his score for Cocoon showed that he was adept at adopting another styles. I think he could have turned out a great score that served the comedy and the lighter tone. And if so asked, would have adopted new themes as well. When scoring TWOK, Horner would have been perfectly willing to adapt Goldsmith's themes if he were asked to, but the studio, Meyer and Bennett all wanted to distance themselves from TMP. Even Goldsmith's first inclination for TMP was to go in a more "non-thematic" direction. While not as memorable, it probably would have suited the film just fine. It was the preferences of the director Robert Wise that eventually led Goldsmith to that theme we all know. Of all the movie composers, Goldsmith showed the most reluctance to adopt themes of others, going so far as to have Alexander Courage himself come in to conduct the portions of the scoring sessions where the TOS theme was played.
People fault Nimoy for hiring his personal friend to compose the music, but relationship matters. Directors and composers need to be able to communicate effectively. To see what happens when they don't, look no further than TMP. Only after conducting a scoring session for a major sequence of the film did Goldsmith learn what Robert Wise really wanted. A very costly mistake, and had the production schedule been any tighter, potentially catastrophic. If Nimoy had doubts about his ability to elicit the desired results from Horner, then switching to Rosenman was probably the right call. Though Horner's score for TSFS has greater depth in some areas,I can see now how Nimoy's relative inexperience could have played a role in some of the soundtracks weaknesses such as the music for the Klingons. Horner created an effective theme for Kahn in TWOK that starts restrained and noble at the beginning of the film and becomes progressively more erratic. But I can easily see Meyer walking Horner though how Khan had grown a deep seething hatred for Kirk during his years in the desert wasteland and loss of his wife, cold, calculating at the beginning but each time Kirk foils him, he gets more desperate and crazed for revenge as his sanity unravels. But what did Nimoy tell Horner about the Klingons for TSFS? That they were the bad guys? That Kruge was the baddest of the bad? Do something like Goldsmith's klingon them but different? Was Horner even told anything about Kruge's motivations? Or what was driving him? I'm not sure that even knew. In earlier treatments, they were romulans, then Klingons with a stolen romulan ship. They needed Kirk to have an adversary and to pay a price for Spock's resurrection so they made Kruge. So is it any surprise that Horner's theme for them just sounded like a bunch of pans banging together? Or that Lloyd's performance seemed weaker compared to Montalbán? Whether Horner knew at the time that he wasn't Nimoy's choice, I just don't think he was given a heck of a lot of direction for TSFS and was left to work it out himself.
While Nimoy was more experienced by the time he directed TVH, he was still very much a developing director. And pulling double duty in a staring role. He executed a film that was critically and financially successful. But while competent, many of his directing decisions were conservative and safe. Where TVH picked up most of the plot threads left from TWOK and TSFS, it lacked the depth of emotion and weight these threads. Many of the emotional beats between characters felt flat and lifeless (i.e. Spock and Amanda, Kirk and Spock).
Bottom line, it isn't fair to lay blame for the perceived deficiencies of TVH's soundtrack on Rosenman (or Horner). This was the result of what Nimoy wanted, not a deficiency or lack of talent on the part of the composer.
I am neither a musician or any kind of expert on music theory. As opposed to the scores from other Trek films, I don't really enjoy listening his soundtrack to ST4. But I don't know that this is necessarily a reflection of his talent (or lack thereof).
Rosenman was a classically trained composer, from an earlier era in film. An era when film scores were not necessarily expected to be...er, "musical".. which is to say, not made of catchy melodies or themes. Maybe you get one with the overture, but unless it was a musical, the incidental music was only there to provide context and emotions for the scene, without calling attention to itself. But this in itself takes a lot of understanding of musical knowledge. To that end, I think the score for TVH works just fine. It is light and comedic in the places that are lighthearted, somber in the more serious parts of the film, it drives the action and tension during the rescue of the whales. I don't fault the score on these merits. If we are going to look at the decisions Rosenman made, we have to also take into account what the director was looking for.
Had Nimoy wanted, I think Rosenman would have adapted the themes and ideas that Horner set up in ST2 and 3 (IMHO he did a very nice adaptation of the TOS theme for the opening titles). I think Nimoy very consciously wanted something very different, and make a very deliberate "break" from the TWOK and TSFS music style.
He may have wanted to put his own stamp on the film. TSFS was very much Harve Bennett's movie. Nimoy himself said he was still learning with TSFS and it wasn't until TVH that he felt he had enough experience and credibility to assert his vision and preferences over Bennett. So it isn't surprising that he opted to go with "his" composer instead of the status quo established by Bennett. And I think he made the right call.
Not because of any shortcomings on Horner's part. I think he was more than capable -- the slow jazz and swing in his score for Cocoon showed that he was adept at adopting another styles. I think he could have turned out a great score that served the comedy and the lighter tone. And if so asked, would have adopted new themes as well. When scoring TWOK, Horner would have been perfectly willing to adapt Goldsmith's themes if he were asked to, but the studio, Meyer and Bennett all wanted to distance themselves from TMP. Even Goldsmith's first inclination for TMP was to go in a more "non-thematic" direction. While not as memorable, it probably would have suited the film just fine. It was the preferences of the director Robert Wise that eventually led Goldsmith to that theme we all know. Of all the movie composers, Goldsmith showed the most reluctance to adopt themes of others, going so far as to have Alexander Courage himself come in to conduct the portions of the scoring sessions where the TOS theme was played.
People fault Nimoy for hiring his personal friend to compose the music, but relationship matters. Directors and composers need to be able to communicate effectively. To see what happens when they don't, look no further than TMP. Only after conducting a scoring session for a major sequence of the film did Goldsmith learn what Robert Wise really wanted. A very costly mistake, and had the production schedule been any tighter, potentially catastrophic. If Nimoy had doubts about his ability to elicit the desired results from Horner, then switching to Rosenman was probably the right call. Though Horner's score for TSFS has greater depth in some areas,I can see now how Nimoy's relative inexperience could have played a role in some of the soundtracks weaknesses such as the music for the Klingons. Horner created an effective theme for Kahn in TWOK that starts restrained and noble at the beginning of the film and becomes progressively more erratic. But I can easily see Meyer walking Horner though how Khan had grown a deep seething hatred for Kirk during his years in the desert wasteland and loss of his wife, cold, calculating at the beginning but each time Kirk foils him, he gets more desperate and crazed for revenge as his sanity unravels. But what did Nimoy tell Horner about the Klingons for TSFS? That they were the bad guys? That Kruge was the baddest of the bad? Do something like Goldsmith's klingon them but different? Was Horner even told anything about Kruge's motivations? Or what was driving him? I'm not sure that even knew. In earlier treatments, they were romulans, then Klingons with a stolen romulan ship. They needed Kirk to have an adversary and to pay a price for Spock's resurrection so they made Kruge. So is it any surprise that Horner's theme for them just sounded like a bunch of pans banging together? Or that Lloyd's performance seemed weaker compared to Montalbán? Whether Horner knew at the time that he wasn't Nimoy's choice, I just don't think he was given a heck of a lot of direction for TSFS and was left to work it out himself.
While Nimoy was more experienced by the time he directed TVH, he was still very much a developing director. And pulling double duty in a staring role. He executed a film that was critically and financially successful. But while competent, many of his directing decisions were conservative and safe. Where TVH picked up most of the plot threads left from TWOK and TSFS, it lacked the depth of emotion and weight these threads. Many of the emotional beats between characters felt flat and lifeless (i.e. Spock and Amanda, Kirk and Spock).
Bottom line, it isn't fair to lay blame for the perceived deficiencies of TVH's soundtrack on Rosenman (or Horner). This was the result of what Nimoy wanted, not a deficiency or lack of talent on the part of the composer.
