A Series on the Edge: Social Tension in Star Trek's Title Cue. Issue 3 (11th August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: GETMAN, JESSICA L.
• Is Part Of: Journal of the Society for American Music. Volume 9:Issue 3(2015)
• Page Start: 293
• Page End: 320
• Publication Date: 2015-08-11
• Subjects: Music -- United States -- Periodicals; Music -- Periodicals; 780.973
• DOI: 10.1017/S1752196315000188
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1752-1963

Abstract

Abstract: The original series of Star Trek (1966–69) documents the social tensions of the late 1960s, responding positively, on the one hand, to the progressive political and social movements of the Civil Rights era by supporting racial and gender equality, but resisting its own efforts on the other, remaining faithful to conservative power structures. As the representative musical statement of the series, Star Trek's title cue embodies and expresses this paradox. Using audio-visual analysis, as well as sketch scores, interviews, and correspondence from the archives of the series' composers and producers, this article analyzes the cue's compositional history, its musical codes, its narrative structure, and its use as framing, referential, and leitmotivic material within the series' underscore in order to demonstrate the ways in which it communicates Star Trek's conflicting ideologies.