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While The Man Trap can be a difficult listen, hearing it away from the episode really shows how Courage nailed it. The script was so-so, but the music played up the spookiness, eerie feelings and the sheer tragedy of the story. What was downplayed in the episode (the end of an intelligent species) is made to be incredibly sad by the music. There is hopelessness all over the score and while it's not a fun happy time at the CD player, it does effectively make the mood of the episode; heavy, scary, crushing. It's repetitive because that's what happens with a lot of TV scoring. The fact that it happens so seldom says a lot about the composers, but for the most part, a complete TV score is a study in patient listening.
The Man Trap is a solid, incredible score for what it accomplishes. I've always loved it, but now I truly appreciate it. Top marks.
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Have finally finished listening to Season Three, and was delighted at all of the untold treasures in that section - every score seemed to have something distinct and unique to offer in approach and sensibility (this is true of the previous two seasons, too - but it really struck me in this set for some reason) - and the library music material is wonderfully performed. It also seemed to me, based on the presentation here, that season three really allowed for some of the most sustained writing opportunities for all of the composers.
My favorites in this section were the first two Duning scores presented ("The Empath" may be one of my favorite episodes of the series, and that score is just marvelous - "Time Grows Short," is one of the best cues written for the show), and I was stunned to gain a brand-new appreciation and affection for "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" I like the re-recording a great deal, but hearing the original sessions here was almost like listening to a wholly different score, and the thematic development really struck me in this go round. I particularly enjoyed Duning's interpolations of Fried's Spock theme.
The two Courage scores also became real favorites - in "The Enterprise Incident," moving from the crashing four-note jeopardy motif, to that incredibly icy, sinuous love music, there's a lot of great material to be heard - and "Plato's Stepchildren" has some wonderful variety in the writing - and I must wholeheartedly concur with the notes - Courage's final flyby is one of the greatest finales in the show - those final chords epitomize the optimistic spirit of the series. Fried's "The Paradise Syndrome," is a marvel, too - delicate, dramatic, and the final sequences are devastating in their emotional import - one of Fried's finest hours.
"Elaan of Troyius" is another grand triumph by Steiner - the Herrmannesque battle music is a thrill, and skillfully orchestrated and performed, the love theme is one of his best, and there's a richness and complexity to the score that makes it compulsively listenable. It's also one of the best episodes from that season, so clearly it inspired Steiner a good deal. "Spock's Brain" has some great material in it, too - particularly the planetside material - and I particularly enjoyed the library renditions of cues from it.
I don't remember much about "And The Children Shall Lead," except it seemed to be the show that launched a thousand Shatner impressions - while the score isn't Duning's best, I found the organ effects rather neat, and there's some intelligent writing in it.
I've come to know the "Spectre of the Gun" fairly well in the last few months, and hearing the original recording free of dialogue was an absolute treat - the way Fielding permutes the intervalic and melodic ideas that make up the "Love Scene," and forms the basis of the score from those ideas, is really marvelous - and as an accordionist, it's great to have the instrument used so prominently in a Trek score.
Finally, there's one of my favorite pieces - the Brahms Paraphrase. Ditmars did such a marvelous job capturing that aesthetic, and the piece is incredibly charming. Who'd have guessed that this would be one of my most-played pieces from the set?
Having gone through it all - I have to again congratulate and commend all of the parties involved for piecing this release together - it's such an incredibly ambitious work, and it's all catalogued and put together in such a smart, listenable way. It's such a great, in-depth look at television scoring, and provides revealing glimpses into the entire process and development of the musical vocabulary for a series.
Anyway - thus ends my bloviating about this wonderful collection - if I have anymore useless thoughts to share, I'll do so in a new post.
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Posted: |
Dec 23, 2012 - 5:29 PM
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By: |
Heath
(Member)
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While The Man Trap can be a difficult listen, hearing it away from the episode really shows how Courage nailed it. The script was so-so, but the music played up the spookiness, eerie feelings and the sheer tragedy of the story. What was downplayed in the episode (the end of an intelligent species) is made to be incredibly sad by the music. There is hopelessness all over the score and while it's not a fun happy time at the CD player, it does effectively make the mood of the episode; heavy, scary, crushing. It's repetitive because that's what happens with a lot of TV scoring. The fact that it happens so seldom says a lot about the composers, but for the most part, a complete TV score is a study in patient listening.
The Man Trap is a solid, incredible score for what it accomplishes. I've always loved it, but now I truly appreciate it. Top marks.
Good appraisal. There's no other score quite like it in Trek - so much free tonality and sheer darkness.
The score's structure is great, with the monster's theme being re-orchestrated with each guise the creature takes - electric violin for McCoy's vision of Nancy, a dry oboe for Kirk's older Nancy, sexy saxophone for the doomed redshirt's "pleasure girl", electric organ for the Greene manifestation, clarinets and double bass for Uhura's alluring crewman, electric cello for the unreal McCoy, and finally pure brass for the creature's true appearance.
I suspect the score is not at the top of everyone's list of Trek classics because it's so untypical and single-minded in it's dark melancholic atmosphere. However, I think it's a mini masterpiece of scoring. I'd put it in the top 3 Trek scores along with both Kaplans.
Despite what may seem like repetition, it's an incredibly rich work that rewards careful listening.
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Despite what may seem like repetition, it's an incredibly rich work that rewards careful listening.
And RE-listening. The more often you run it, the more you get out of it.
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I know it's unseemly for another label to come into a thread about another label's product, but tough beans. Actually, I think it should happen more, don't you, and even in the other direction?
Anyway, after the months and months of endless hype on this thing I didn't even want to open the set. But I finally did and, of course, went directly to all the George Duning scores, which I've now heard. And all I have to say is this is some of the finest TV music ever written and its presentation is flawless. Great sound, beautifully mastered and well put together. If there was no other music in this set, it would be worth the price. The beauty of Duning's scores is just breathtaking. Such a master of melody and mood and beauty. Is there no truth in beauty? Yes, when the beauty is supplied by Duning. I'll now listen to the rest, but knowing the other scores that I've heard in the past, nothing, for me, will approach the Duning material. I like the other scores, but Duning is, pardon the saying, in a whole other universe.
Bravo to the La La Land boys, Neil, Lukas, and Jeff and anyone else I'm forgetting. A thing of beauty.
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I'll now listen to the rest, but knowing the other scores that I've heard in the past, nothing, for me, will approach the Duning material. I like the other scores, but Duning is, pardon the saying, in a whole other universe.
I think the Mullendore stuff compares favorably with Duning's for romantic sweep, and the Kaplan scores are very intellectually engaging. Fried's "Paradise Syndrome" is a top-notch melodic love-story score. At any rate, I'd be very interested to hear your further impressions of the rest of the set.
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I think the Mullendore stuff compares favorably with Duning's for romantic sweep, and the Kaplan scores are very intellectually engaging. Fried's "Paradise Syndrome" is a top-notch melodic love-story score. At any rate, I'd be very interested to hear your further impressions of the rest of the set.
Agreed, but I would add that Courage and Steiner must be included in any discussion of STAR TREK's magnificence.
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We know they're all magnificent, Zap.
I was trying to think of recommendations for a Duning fan.
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While I have been enjoying the entire box set (and re-watching many episodes of the series), I have to say that I have been getting a special satisfaction out of the George Duning scores as well. I only recently discovered his sound thanks to the Twilight Time Blu-rays of Bell, Book and Candle (just try to get that theme out of your head) and Picnic, and it is nice to have so much so soon. I'm also looking for Duning recommendations no CD and LP, so anyone who can do so, please!
One of the most satisfying things about this set is the re-discovery of scores that we already had. Fred Steiner’s “Charlie X” was previously represented on his own set of re-recordings. I like the veiled tension throughout the score and the mysterious nature; the cue “Charlie's Mystery” is a wonderful construction illustrating Charlie's fascination with the workings of the Enterprise for a scene without any dialogue. This cue was used a few other memorable times in the series, but it was always a moment where the music had to be front-and-center.
One of my favorite scores for the series has always been Sol Kaplan’s The Doomsday Machine, which I consider one of the best space opera scores ever. It is a truly thrilling work, and I watched the episode recently and was impressed with how well it complemented the episode. Bold and operatic, and with an overarching sense of melancholy commemorating the crew of the Constellation.
The other thing that comes across is how efficiently all of the composers used the forces available to them. This is most clear with the scores that have been re-recorded with larger orchestral forces. I find Kaplan's rendition of his “Doomsday Machine” music to be more muscular than Fred Steiner's take on the same material, even though the size of the orchestra Steiner was using was much larger. In fact, some of the characteristic of the original performance is changed very much by the size of the orchestra; the snare drum, for example, doesn't cut through as stridently against the entire Royal Philharmonic as it does the more modestly sized orchestra for the original score.
Do the CBS/FOX VHS editions match the laserdisc audio, or were they already retooled by that point?
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Do the CBS/FOX VHS editions match the laserdisc audio, or were they already retooled by that point?
The VHS and the Laserdiscs were the same prints, so they had an identical sound mix. It all went to hell with the DVDs....
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While I have been enjoying the entire box set (and re-watching many episodes of the series), I have to say that I have been getting a special satisfaction out of the George Duning scores as well. I only recently discovered his sound thanks to the Twilight Time Blu-rays of Bell, Book and Candle (just try to get that theme out of your head) and Picnic, and it is nice to have so much so soon. I'm also looking for Duning recommendations no CD and LP, so anyone who can do so, please!
One of the most satisfying things about this set is the re-discovery of scores that we already had. Fred Steiner’s “Charlie X” was previously represented on his own set of re-recordings. I like the veiled tension throughout the score and the mysterious nature; the cue “Charlie's Mystery” is a wonderful construction illustrating Charlie's fascination with the workings of the Enterprise for a scene without any dialogue. This cue was used a few other memorable times in the series, but it was always a moment where the music had to be front-and-center.
One of my favorite scores for the series has always been Sol Kaplan’s The Doomsday Machine, which I consider one of the best space opera scores ever. It is a truly thrilling work, and I watched the episode recently and was impressed with how well it complemented the episode. Bold and operatic, and with an overarching sense of melancholy commemorating the crew of the Constellation.
The other thing that comes across is how efficiently all of the composers used the forces available to them. This is most clear with the scores that have been re-recorded with larger orchestral forces. I find Kaplan's rendition of his “Doomsday Machine” music to be more muscular than Fred Steiner's take on the same material, even though the size of the orchestra Steiner was using was much larger. In fact, some of the characteristic of the original performance is changed very much by the size of the orchestra; the snare drum, for example, doesn't cut through as stridently against the entire Royal Philharmonic as it does the more modestly sized orchestra for the original score.
Do the CBS/FOX VHS editions match the laserdisc audio, or were they already retooled by that point?
Well, you will find some Duning on Kritzerland.
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Hi Josh: Any Duning you can find is worth listening to - Film Score Monthly has put out quite a few encompassing a few different styles - some frothy light comedy scores like "Any Wednesday" and "Bell, Book and Candle," to more dramatic Duning like "Toys in the Attic" (fantastic!), "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" (on a great double-bill with Johnny Green's "Twilight of Honor") and disaster/romantic Duning with "The Devil at 5 O'Clock." The TV omnibus set also has Duning's winning "Then Came Bronson," which has another great long-lined theme.
Kritzerland has put out Duning's utterly delightful "Dear Brigitte," and (per the "Career" thread) has "Who's Got The Action?" on the immediate horizon, with - I would imagine - many more to follow.
"Picnic" and "From Here to Eternity" are both marvelous scores, filled with beautiful melodies, great psychological scoring, and Duning's distinctive voice on display. "Cowboy" is also a great score, which you can find on LP.
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I've been listening to this set since I got it on the 10th. It's also gotten me to revisit some episodes I haven't seen in a while because they aren't, well. all that great (And the Children Shall Lead, Spock's Brain). I really have to say that, damn it, I f**king LOVE Star Trek. Even the hideous episodes have something to enjoy.
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One of the most satisfying things about this set is the re-discovery of scores that we already had. Fred Steiner’s “Charlie X” was previously represented on his own set of re-recordings. I like the veiled tension throughout the score and the mysterious nature; the cue “Charlie's Mystery” is a wonderful construction illustrating Charlie's fascination with the workings of the Enterprise for a scene without any dialogue. This cue was used a few other memorable times in the series, but it was always a moment where the music had to be front-and-center.
I had the same reaction to Charlie X earlier today. Steiner-wise, I'm a maniac for Corbomite, Spock's Brain, and Elaan of Troyius, and wasn't expecting to get much out of Charlie X, but "Kirk's Command" and the finale really popped for me this morning.
I've been listening to this set since I got it on the 10th. It's also gotten me to revisit some episodes I haven't seen in a while because they aren't, well. all that great (And the Children Shall Lead, Spock's Brain). I really have to say that, damn it, I f**king LOVE Star Trek. Even the hideous episodes have something to enjoy.
When the box was announced in August, I embargoed all TOS music except what I would hear in MeTV airings on Saturday nights. And of course, since getting the set I've played nothing else and not gotten tired of it. And I think it's fair to say that I have never loved STAR TREK more.
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