Alexander Courage (Dec. 10, 1919 - May 15, 2008)

[Takara_Soong 4]

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- Alexander (Sandy) Courage, an Emmy-winning and Academy Award-nominated arranger, orchestrator and composer who created the otherworldly theme for the classic Star Trek TV show, has died. He was 88.

 

Courage died May 15 at the Sunrise assisted-living facility in Pacific Palisades, his stepdaughter Renata Pompelli of Los Angeles, said Thursday. He had been in poor health for three years.

 

Over a decades-long career, Courage collaborated on dozens of movies and orchestrated some of the greatest musicals of the 1950s and 1960s, including My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly! Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Gigi, Porgy and Bess and Fiddler on the Roof.

 

But his most famous work is undoubtedly the Star Trek theme, which he composed, arranged and conducted in a week in 1965.

 

"I have to confess to the world that I am not a science-fiction fan," Courage said in an interview for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television in 2000. "Never have been. I think it's just marvelous malarkey.... So you write some, you hope, marvelous malarkey music that goes with it."

 

Courage said the tune, with its ringing fanfare, eerie soprano part and swooping orchestration, was inspired by an arrangement of the song Beyond the Blue Horizon he heard as a youngster.

 

"Little did I know when I wrote that first A-flat for the flute that it was going to go down in history, somehow," Courage said. "It's a very strange feeling."

 

Courage said he also mouthed the "whooshing" sound heard as the starship Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of the TV show.

 

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry later wrote lyrics to the tune, which were never sung on the show but entitled him to half the royalties, Courage said.

 

Among the many other projects Courage worked on was the 1987 TV special Julie Andrews: The Sound of Christmas, for which he won an Emmy for musical direction.

 

He and Lionel Newman shared Academy Award nominations for their adapted scores for 1964's The Pleasure Seekers and 1967's Doctor Dolittle.

 

A friend and colleague of movie composers John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith, he also provided the orchestration for such movies as The Poseidon Adventure, Jurassic Park, Basic Instinct and The Mummy.

 

For Star Trek he composed music for only a few episodes, in addition to the theme and the music for the pilot. But that theme was reprised in the TV sequel Star Trek: The Next Generation and in the Star Trek movies.

[Kor37 9]

I really didn't know he was still alive! RIP, Alexander Courage, and thank you for one of the most memorable themes in television history.

[Takara_Soong 4]

In some ways, Alexander Courage was almost a forgotten man in the lore of Trek. The most famous notes of music in Trekdom were written by Alexander Courage but I think most people associate them with Jerry Goldsmith.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

 

 

 

 

[Kor37 9]

In some ways, Alexander Courage was almost a forgotten man in the lore of Trek. The most famous notes of music in Trekdom were written by Alexander Courage but I think most people associate them with Jerry Goldsmith.

I was never a big fan of Jerry Goldsmith. Besides the original Courage music, I much prefer the James Horner score from Treks II and III.

[trekz 7]

In some ways, Alexander Courage was almost a forgotten man in the lore of Trek. The most famous notes of music in Trekdom were written by Alexander Courage but I think most people associate them with Jerry Goldsmith.

I was never a big fan of Jerry Goldsmith. Besides the original Courage music, I much prefer the James Horner score from Treks II and III.

Good point Takara. And I agree with Kor that the James Horner scores for ST II and II are very appealing imo.

 

"Courage said he also mouthed the "whooshing" sound heard as the starship Enterprise zooms through the opening credits of the TV show."

I never knew that before reading the obituary.

There was a nice tribute on the Sunday Morning CBS show to Courage playing "the" theme.