TribLIVE: In celebration of the 50th anniversary of “Star Trek,” or the Original Series, as it's now called, that music is getting the concert-hall treatment with “Star Trek: The Ultimate Voyage” on March 1 at the Benedum Center.
The concert is one of more than 100 being held in North America through the end of April. It features conductor Justin Freer and the Czech National Symphony performing music from the many TV series and movies in the franchise, while iconic footage plays in high-definition on a 40-foot-wide screen.
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I would be interested to know how long orchestras performing movie scores has been popular. I know that since I was younger the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has been performing these types of concerts. I know many people that have attended ones that featured their specific interest such as a specific artist or another movie, like “Star Wars”. I think that these types of concerts are a great way to get people to come downtown and see what the cultural district has to offer. That has been one of the most successful things about the revitalization of the downtown area; the increase attendance for the cultural district. I think that it works both ways, in that the new downtown bring people to the performances and show and that featured performances and shows bring people to see downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to all of that, these types of concerts introduce orchestral performances to the general public, a world that can often seem reserved for the wealthy, cultured and educated.
I grew up sitting between my parents on the couch at dinner, watching episode after episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise and secretly loving that strange contentedness I felt at having such a constant in my life. I love going back and listening to the scores of old favorite TV shows and movies, and hearing for the first time all the subtleties of what was always in the background while I watched the stories I loved unfold. That is what I think this concert is meant to be for its attendant's, a chance to go back and remember that heart-warming sense of safety and joy and triumph the series they loved gave them. It makes me happy to see that audience costumes are encouraged as well, because that tells me that this is not meant to be the high-class version of an old nerdy favorite, as I feel many orchestral celebration concerts of pop culture often are. This concert is obviously a much-needed chance to geek out at a less-observed feature of something so many people loved for so many reasons. Whether audience members grew up watching Next Generation and Enterprise on the couch with mom and dad or were the parents who subjected their kids to it over dinner every night, it is certain that this will be a lovely chance to pay long overdue respect to the artists who make our nostalgia possible even from the background.
I've always been blown away by soundtracks. The vast majority of the time they simply hover and wave below your line of sight, but sometimes, most often in film, they break through the surface with astounding effects. It's almost scary to think how much power sound has. Just think how strange it would be to watch a horror movie with nice, upbeat music. Imagine if someone was killing herself on stage or screen and there was happy nineties pop music in the background. It would immediately take you out of the scene. While original scores, like those used for Star Trek (though I personally prefer Star Wars) can be linked to characters or events. This method almost aids the audience into predicting the unfolding events. It can imply a relationship. It can build up stress only to let it fall again. In later years audiences can bask in the waves on nostalgia that roll off of the music from a show they love. Hopefully, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra will do a similar event for some of my favorite films and television shows.
I am familiar with the Star Trek canon, but I am by no means a Trekkie. Often people don’t think about the music in TV shows and movies like these, even one with such an impressive body of work. Though the theme songs and title songs may be recognizable, the rest of the music tends to fall to the wayside. The concept of playing live to a piece of film is not an easy task (not that I’ve ever done it). I have a friend who has done this a few times in various orchestras. She said that the conductor often changed tempos to keep the musicians in the same place in the score as in the film. The concept of CineConcerts is great. It allows people to explore an aspect of TV and film they may not otherwise. I think that it will bring people who ordinarily wouldn’t go see a live orchestra to go see one and they might venture out again to see something non-cinema related.
I love film and TV scores, and especially the work of the amazing Jerry Goldsmith, so this is so cool to me. I personally believe that film and TV scores are vastly under-appreciated. Here are the modern-day great composers right under our noses. Where Mozart composed for Operas, and Tchaikovsky scored ballets, todays great composer are in the world of film and television. Listen to any of the recent Pixar movies, or TV shows like Lost, where masters like Michael Giachinno create masterpieces that are incredible stand-alone, and with the shows.
I'm glad to see that with things like this, the effort and talent in this craft is being appreciated. People in fan bases like this love the scores of their fandom, which is helpful. People are gaga for john William's incredible score in the Star Wars movies.
Recently, Quentin Tarantino, accepted a golden Globe on behalf of the great composer Ennio Morricone, for the Hateful Eight. In his acceptance speech, he made a very strange comment about how Ennio was a great composer besides the "ghetto" of film scores. Well, I know that Quentin is crazy, but its clear that that's not the general attitude about scores if concert halls are being filled with audiences for it. It may be a gateway to new audiences for a craft struggling to find anyone without with hair.
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