voyager opening theme

Jerry Goldsmith

Star trek, voyager, television series main title theme, avg duration, description.

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Star Trek Voyager - Theme Song

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Published Sep 15, 2013

The Trek Series With The Best Theme Music Is...

Well, this was just a little unexpected. StarTrek.com asked readers to cast their votes as to which Star Trek series had the best theme music, and The Next Generation won. Now, that's not the surprise. What shocked us was that 25,000 people voted and The Original Series came in dead last. Here are the results:

Here's what some of your fellow fans had to say about the options:

"Jerry Goldsmith is kicking some rear end with the top two places so far for a combined 53%." -- Carl James

"The Enterprise theme song is the best!! At first I thought it was cheesy but now I love it. It reminds me of an awesome power ballad from the 80's." -- Ange Hertz

" TNG , no contest, though most of them had good theme music." -- Cole Whiteley

"I understand people's dislike for Enterprise's theme music - it really was a drastic change from what came before, and, in a way, didn't really 'fit' with the other themes, but I like the song a lot personally, and I think it suits Trek very well in feel - the song is celebrating the need to explore, to wander, and to have confidence in yourself, defying the odds against you. It's a powerful song." -- Matthew B. R. Sims

" Voyager because its song tells the story in itself... "persevere." Next Gen is nice but was a derivative of The Motion Piicture ." -- S. James Chorvat II

"Both Star Trek: the Motion Picture (and the Next Gen theme) and the Voyager theme were written by Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith won the Emmy for Voyager 's theme. Every time I hear that climatic high note, then the sound affect of Voyager passing through a planet's ring on the up-beat, I still get warm fuzzies all up and down my spine. Voyager 's theme is a musical, visual, and sound design masterwork." -- Michele Hansen

" DS9 has the best orchestration. Voyager is good, too. TNG is a nice march. TOS is very 1960s, so it's dated. The pop sound and vocals make the Enterprise stand out--love it or hate it. Give me DS9 every time." -- Charles Kufs

"I love the original theme of Star Trek . I like the other Star Trek series, but I love the original better..." -- Curtis Simpkins

"I have always loved DS9 's opening theme. It's majestic." -- Vicki Love

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Every STAR TREK Opening Theme Song Ranked from Worst to Best

Find out which is the greatest opening in Star Trek television history. Star Trek is the most iconic television show ever. It’s also spawned one of the most successful movie franchises ever made.

Part of its success is the Star Trek theme song. The original song is so iconic people know it even if they’ve never seen an episode of the show. Over the years there have been many spin-offs of the show which each used a new theme song. Some have been brilliant and some have been horrible.

Most recently Star Trek: Discovery is airing   on CBS All-Access . Soon the upcoming Picard series will introduce a new theme song. We don’t know if the opening for Picard will match up with some of the others. But it’s time to look back at the history of the Star Trek opening songs and rank them from worst to best.

Make it so.

11. Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3-4 (2003–2005)

Composed by Dennis McCarthy

Enterprise’s theme song is the first (and last) time Star Trek uses a contemporary song for the opening. Dennis McCarthy scored the pilot episode. Executive producer Rick Berman promised something new for Star Trek’s sixth spin-off series. He said the opening would “be using a little bit more contemporary kind of music. […] It’s not all of a sudden that the show is going to be scored with electric guitars. It’s going to be a little hipper.”

The song “Faith of the Heart” is written by Diane Warren and sung by Rod Stewart for Robin Williams’ comedic-drama Patch Adams (1998). The song was a hit and charted at number three on the US Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks and number 60 on the UK Singles Chart. It’s used for Star Trek and sung by Russell Watson . It’s a good song and some of the lyrics match up with the idea of space travel.

You have to inspire the courage of the producers for trying something new but it doesn’t work. There’s a tradition of Star Trek shows opening with a grand orchestral theme. This song sounds like a Rod Stewart concert. After fans complained the song is different in the third and final season of Enterprise .

The new version has a higher pitch and is sped up. They added tambourine and a more pronounced electric guitar. Star Trek managed to make a bad decision even worse.

10.  Star Trek: Enterprise  Season 1-2 (2001–2002)

Dennis McCarthy first made music for the Next Generation pilot episode and scored dozens of other episodes. McCarthy later composed the theme for the shows  Deep Space Nine and  Voyager. Plus he scored the soundtrack for movies like  Star Trek: Generations . 

The opening of  Enterprise uses the song “Faith of the Heart” sung by British crossover opera singer Russell Watson. Fans hated it so much that fans created many petitions to get rid of it. “[We] urgently request that you remove [‘Faith of the Heart’] and in its place utilize a score that is without vocals, as traditionally used by [the] ‘Star Trek’ television series,” one petition said.

“We wish to express our unmitigated disgust with the theme song that has been selected for the new ‘Enterprise’ series,” another online petition said. “It is not fit to be scraped off the bottom of a Klingon’s boot.”

“I’m in the horrible minority of people who like the song,” Rick Berman defended the song telling Sci-Fi Wire . “I think it fits beautifully. I think it’s a song that’s got a lot of hopefulness and uplifting qualities to it. And I like it. I’ve met a lot of other people who like it, but I’ve also heard a tremendous amount of banter about people who don’t. And what’s a Star Trek series without something for people to hate?”

Whatever you think of the song it was used as a wakeup call for NASA missions .

9. Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 “Mirror Darkly” (2005)

Composed by Dennis McCarthy & Kevin Kiner

In 2005 the series Enterprise traveled to an alternate “evil mirror universe” for several episodes. To complete the feel that the show had traveled to another world they changed the opening. The theme song has a more militaristic tone and a darker feel.

It works well, especially when shown along with images showing how Earth entered into a long-standing war. Considering it replaced a pop song it’s even more impressive. Unfortunately, it only lasted a few episodes before going back to “Faith of the Heart”.

8. Star Trek: Discovery  (2017-2019)

Composed by Jeff Russo

When CBS started work on the Star Trek prequel Star Trek: Discovery they hired Jeff Russo to compose a new opening theme. Russo has started in a ’90s alternative rock band named “Tonic”. After that, he started composing songs for video games and television shows. He won an Emmy for his work on the FX series Fargo .

He describes himself as a life-long fan of Star Trek and Jerry Goldsmith’s work on The Next Generation in particular. The theme for Discovery sets itself apart because they decided to focus on emotion rather than exploration. It starts with the familiar fanfare for Star Trek and then uses stringed instruments to give a sense of mystery and hope. It ends with the theme again which implies the future of the franchise.

It’s a solid piece that relies on fan recognition. So it doesn’t stand out on its own.

7. Star Trek: The Original Series (1966–1969)

Composed by Alexander Courage

The theme for Star Trek played over every episode in the show’s three seasons. It’s called “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. It’s an instrumental piece and opens with a monologue by William Shatner starting with “Space. The final frontier”. The song itself relied on wind instruments and percussion by bongo drums, which was a popular instrument at the time.

Alexander Mair “Sandy” Courage Jr. was an Academy Award-nominated, Emmy Award-winning composer, arranger, conductor, and orchestrator of television shows and movies like Jurassic Park (1993), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and Hello, Dolly! (1964).

Courage was inspired by the Richard Whiting song “Beyond the Blue Horizon,” giving him the idea for a song which was a “long thing that…keeps going out into space…over a fast-moving accompaniment.”

The original song is a masterpiece of its time evoking a feel of adventure and excitement and has been used in several pieces for Star Trek since then. Unfortunately, it feels dated. Bongo drums fell out of fashion decades ago. The operatic singing by  Loulie Jean Norman feels out-of-place. Iconic, but not quite as good as others.

6. Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–1974)

Composed by Ray Ellis (Yvette Blais), Norm Prescott (Jeff Michaels)

Raymond Spencer Ellis arranged many hit records in the 1950s and 1960s. He later started working with Filmation on their animated series. He used his wife’s name “Yvette Blais” as a pseudonym. Norman Prescott was co-founder and executive producer at Filmation Associates and worked with Ellis on the theme song. He used the pseudonym “Jeff Michael” after his sons Jeff and Michael.

Paramount decided to revive the original series for a Saturday morning cartoon. They decided to make the theme more modern.

Like the original song, it starts with Shatner’s monologue “where no man had gone before”. Then it moves onto a song with a much faster pace and tone than the original. The tone is slightly different as well but manages to capture the same feel of the original song. Plus, there’s no singing.

5. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 1-3 (1993–1995)

Jerry Goldsmith was contacted to do the theme song but declined because of scheduling problems. Dennis McCarthy has done a ton of work on Star Trek and he admired the Star Trek: The Next Generation song. He said that he loved the trumpets and French horns in the theme so McCarthy used wind instruments to write the song for DS9 .

It’s different from other songs because it’s the first show to focus on a starbase instead of a spaceship. So the feel of the song is very different for the fourth television spin-off. Berman said he wanted to emphasize the loneliness of the station. McCarthy told SyFy he wanted the theme to say, “We are alone” and he accomplished it. It’s different but beautiful. In 1993 he won an Emmy for “Outstanding Individual Achievement in Main Title Theme Music” on DS9.

4. Star Trek: Picard (2019-)

Composed by Jeff Russo

CBS All Access went in a different direction with the theme song for Picard. Instead of relying on strings and a large orchestra to play the song it goes smaller. The song is thoughtful, serene and melodic. It’s not bombastic like the N ext Generation  theme or slow like  Deep Space Nine.

But it does owe a debt to the 90s Star Trek series. In the TNG episode “The Inner Light” Picard is knocked unconscious by an alien probe. He lives 40 years of life as an alien scientist named Kamin in the span of a few minutes. During the episode, he hears a flute song played by his “son” Batai (Daniel Stewart). After Picard returns to his normal life, he still remembers how to play and plays a melody on a flute. That flute and song have a special place in Picard’s life since it’s the family he never had but “lost”. It’s not a coincidence. The composer said he wanted to use a flute to evoke some of the feelings from the episode.

Russo told  The Ready Room  he wanted to “change to a feeling of emotional contentment for him because as we come to see, he lives on a chateau. And it’s sort of what we always thought would happen at the end of The Next Generation, and those movies where he would always sort of end up … That was his happy place. And then I wanted to … evoke how he has been awoken again.”

It ends with a small section of the theme from  Star Trek: The Next Generation . It’s lovely, thoughtful and moving.

3. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4-9 (1996–1999)

For the fourth season to the final season, the song changed. It’s actually better in many ways. The show had changed by the fourth season. New characters joined the show like Leeta (Chase Masterson) the Dabo girl. Other characters, like Worf (Michael Dorn) from Next Generation, returned. The starship USS Defiant was added to allow the show to travel to different parts of space.

All these changes led the producers and McCarthy to rework the theme song to make it lighter. The reworked song makes the show brighter and gives more hope. Star Trek is all about hope and it fits wonderfully.

2. Star Trek: Voyager (1995–2001)

Composed by Jerry Goldsmith

Jerry Goldsmith is a legend in the industry with a long list of awards including 18 Academy Award nominations. He won an Oscar for The Omen (1976) and was nominated for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.

Unlike The Next Generation which used music from his movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he decided to write a new song. The song is a beautiful sweeping theme that has stunning pictures of the ship soaring through space. The Voyager theme is somber and lonely but not sad. It’s uplifting.

The Voyager opening theme song is wonderful.

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1-7 (1987–1994)

Composed by Dennis McCarthy, Jay Chattaway, Ron Jones, Alexander Courage, Jerry Goldsmith

When the producers were planning out the first Star Trek show in decades they wanted to make sure the music would meet fan expectations. So they turned to the work of Jerry Goldsmith and used a piece from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Specifically, they took a piece that played several times in the soundtrack. The first time is before the Enterprise’s first warp test.

The song is perfect for the opening as it has a feel of hope and majesty. The original song was performed by a 100-piece orchestra. Too much for a TV show so they scaled it back and McCarthy led the original orchestration of a slightly different version of the song.

It opens with the opening of the original Star Trek theme. Then Patrick Stewart says a version of the “Where no man has gone before” monologue. After that, the song begins and blows the doors off. It’s the best theme Star Trek has ever had and set the standard for all other openings.

Which is your favorite Star Trek theme song? Which one do you hate? Let us know in the comments below!

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Theme from Star Trek

• View history

The "Theme from Star Trek " (originally scored under the title "Where No Man Has Gone Before" [1] and also known informally as the " Star Trek Fanfare ") is the instrumental theme music composed for Star Trek: The Original Series by Alexander Courage . First recorded in 1964 , it is played in its entirety during the opening title sequences of each episode. It is also played over the closing credits, albeit without its signature opening fanfare.

During the opening credits, the theme's opening fanfare is accompanied by the now-famous "Space: the final frontier" monologue spoken by William Shatner (with the exception of the pilot episodes, " The Cage " and " Where No Man Has Gone Before "). Throughout the opening credits, the theme is punctuated at several points by the USS Enterprise flying towards and past the camera. These "fly-bys" are accompanied by a "whoosh" sound effect created vocally by Courage himself. (Documentary: Music Takes Courage: A Tribute to Alexander Courage )

• 1 Conception and original use
• 2 Vocalization and lyrics
• 3 Later use
• 4 Other recordings and uses
• 5 External link

Conception and original use [ ]

Creator Gene Roddenberry originally approached composer Jerry Goldsmith to write the theme for Star Trek . Goldsmith, however, had other commitments and instead recommended Alexander Courage. ( Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition) commentary)

Courage was not a science fiction fan, referring to the genre as "marvelous malarkey." He thus saw the theme he was writing as "marvelous malarkey music." Courage composed, orchestrated and conducted the theme in one week. He drew inspiration from a Richard A. Whiting song he heard on the radio as a child called "Beyond the Blue Horizon". This song had a drawn-out tune with a steady, fast-paced beat underneath it, which Courage emulated when composing the theme. (Documentary: Music Takes Courage )

The theme used in " The Cage " – the unaired first pilot – featured a wordless melody line by soprano Loulie Jean Norman supported by electronic underpinnings. When a second pilot was ordered and the series was picked up, Norman's vocalizations were dropped from the theme.

The first season of The Original Series used two versions of the theme. On the original NBC and syndicated runs, five episodes – "Where No Man has Gone Before", the second pilot, along with " The Man Trap ", " Charlie X ", " The Naked Time ", and " Mudd's Women " – used a mixed electronic/orchestral arrangement for the opening credits, with the main melody line created electronically and accompanied by more traditional instrumentation, including a flute and an organ for both the opening and closing themes. When the series was remastered for video in the early 1980s, only "Where No Man Has Gone Before" retained this version of the theme over both the opening and closing credits, while the opening was restored to the other four episodes and placed on five others when the series was remastered again for DVD release. The closing credits for the other nine episodes, however, used a version that had only an orchestral arrangement. The mixed arrangement was first heard on " The Corbomite Maneuver " (the tenth episode aired, although it was the second episode produced), after which the show opened with the orchestral-only arrangement.

Vocalization and lyrics [ ]

For the second and third seasons , Loulie Jean Norman's wordless accompaniment was re-added to the theme. However, Norman's voice was made more prominent than it was for "The Cage".

When originally written (and as heard in "The Cage"), Courage had Norman's vocalizations and the various instruments mixed equally to produce a unique sound. According to Courage, however, Gene Roddenberry had it re-recorded with Norman's accompaniment at a higher volume above the instruments, after which Courage felt the theme sounded like a soprano solo. Roddenberry's version can be heard during the opening credits of each episode in the second and third seasons; Courage's version is heard during the closing credits.

Further souring the relationship between Roddenberry and Courage, Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the theme without Courage's knowledge – not in the expectation that they would ever be sung, but in order to claim a 50% share of the music's performance royalties. Although there was never any litigation, Courage commented that he believed Roddenberry's conduct was unethical, to which Roddenberry responded, " Hey, I have to get some money somewhere. I'm sure not going to get it out of the profits of Star Trek . " [2] Although the lyrics were never included on the series, they have been printed in several "TV Theme" songbooks over the years.

Later use [ ]

Portions of the Theme from Star Trek have been used in all 13 Star Trek feature films . Most of the Star Trek films' opening themes start by quoting the opening fanfare from Courage's theme, before seguéing into the film's own theme. However, there are multiple exceptions to this tradition. Star Trek: The Motion Picture did not use the fanfare at all in the opening or closing music, although a subdued version of the Theme from Star Trek was created by Courage at the request of the film's main composer, Jerry Goldsmith . [3] This arrangement of the theme was used for the " Captain's Log " cues. The theme was quoted again in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , most extensively in the final scenes.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , scored by Cliff Eidelman , broke with the tradition again. The Theme from Star Trek did not appear in the opening music, although it was used towards the end. Star Trek Generations , scored by Dennis McCarthy , on the other hand, did use the fanfare in the opening credits (and extensively throughout the score) but it did not appear until the end of the main title music.

The score for Star Trek , composed by Michael Giacchino , again did not use the fanfare in the opening title music: instead, Giacchino subtly quoted the opening notes and various other Star Trek themes from past films throughout his score. For the end credits, a re-arranged version of the Theme from Star Trek , fully orchestrated and with The Page La Studio Voices accompanying the melody line, was used. This version was also used for the end credits of Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond .

The theme's opening fanfare was adapted by Dennis McCarthy as the opening for the Star Trek: The Next Generation theme (the remainder of which was an adaptation of Goldsmith's theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture ). Courage's original theme can also be heard in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode " Trials and Tribble-ations ", the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Shattered ", and the Star Trek: Enterprise series finale, " These Are the Voyages... "

Courage's theme was re-recorded for the remastered Star Trek episodes , with Elin Carlson emulating Norman's wordless vocalization.

Star Trek: Discovery composer Jeff Russo included Courage's fanfare at the end of the Discovery main titles. The theme returned in full at the end of the Season 1 finale, " Will You Take My Hand? ", playing over the closing credits after the USS Discovery intercepts a distress call from the USS Enterprise .

In the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode " Spock Amok ", at least a portion of the theme became diegetic (heard in the fictional universe) when a few notes of the fanfare could be heard on the PADD used to keep track of tasks for " Enterprise bingo ".

Other recordings and uses [ ]

TOS star Nichelle Nichols recorded a disco version of the theme. However, Nichols used different lyrics than those written by Gene Roddenberry. The late jazz musician Maynard Ferguson and his band also recorded a rendition of the song, a fusion version that was released on his 1977 album Conquistador . Ferguson's version was used as the opening theme for The Larry King Show on the Mutual Radio Network. The satirical rock band Tenacious D and the lounge band Love Jones recorded versions of the theme, as well, using Gene Roddenberry's lyrics.

Roy Orbison was a Star Trek fan and often opened his concerts with his band jamming to theme. [4]

The 1992 Paramount Pictures comedy Wayne's World was the first non- Trek film to use Courage's theme. In the film, the character of Garth Algar (played by Dana Carvey ) whistles the theme while he and Wayne Campbell ( Mike Myers ) lie on the hood of Wayne's car, looking up at the stars. When Garth finishes the tune, he tells Wayne, " Sometimes I wish I could boldly go where no one's gone before. But I'll probably just stay in Aurora. " The theme can also be heard in the films Muppets from Space (1999, starring F. Murray Abraham ) and RV (2006, starring Robin Williams and featuring Brian Markinson ).

At the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards, TOS star William Shatner and opera singer Frederica von Stade performed a live version of the theme, with Shatner reciting the opening monologue and von Stade singing the wordless melody line.

In 2009, the theme was used as the wake-up call for the crew of mission STS-125 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis .

For the 2021 inauguration of US President Joe Biden , acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma played the fanfare of the theme as a prelude to his performance of another song significant to Star Trek , " Amazing Grace ". [5]

External link [ ]

• Theme from Star Trek at Wikipedia

Screen Rant

Every star trek tv series theme song ranked.

Star Trek has featured a multitude of soaring, iconic theme songs over the years, scoring the final frontier through thrilling orchestral marches.

Star Trek has featured some of the most iconic theme songs of all time, generally scoring the final frontier with thrilling orchestral marches. From the very beginning, with Star Trek: The Original Series , the music was an important part of the show. And while the types of music used to score the actual episodes has evolved over the years, the theme song remains consistent - in all but one case, an orchestral composition laid atop a title sequence listing the main cast members.

While the importance of an opening tune may not always be obvious, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry certainly understood the value of the theme song. Roddenberry wrote lyrics to the TOS theme song so he could collect half the royalties, damaging his relationship with composer Alexander Courage. Many of Star Trek 's theme songs have become so iconic they're part of the cultural lexicon, while a select few are widely reviled.

Related: Star Trek's 6 Most Controversial Captains (& Why)

12 Star Trek: Enterprise

A prequel set a century before the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Star Trek: Enterprise features the most infamous theme song in the entire franchise. Rather than a traditional orchestral theme song, Enterprise was headlined by "Where My Heart Will Take Me," a saccharine pop ballad by Russell Watson. Using a pop song for a Star Trek theme is not an inherently bad idea, but "Where My Heart Will Take Me" is a substandard power ballad that doesn't fit with the spirit of Star Trek . Enterprise 's theme was almost U2's Beautiful Day , which would have been a huge improvement.

11 Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series was something of a half measure. While Star Trek: The Original Series began to explode in popularity in syndication in the 1970s, it still wasn't yet financially feasible to fully revive the series. A cheaper, safer option was Star Trek: The Animated Series . The entire TOS cast, except for Walter Koenig, returned to voice their characters, largely thanks to Leonard Nimoy. The opening theme is a weak retread of the TOS theme song, created by Funimation's in-house composers. Like everything else about The Animated Series , the song is largely forgettable, a Star Trek footnote at best.

10 Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery , the adventures of mutineer-turned-Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), borrows a bit of Alexander Courage's iconic fanfare before twisting the melody slightly and storming off into new territory. Jeff Russo's theme is propulsive and pretty, but apart from the Courage flourishes, it feels like it could be the theme song to any CBS legal drama. It's a song that could soundtrack multiple relatively mundane scenarios, but maybe not a space epic. It's an understated piece that never quite takes flight in a satisfying, stirring way, ironically mirroring Star Trek: Discovery 's occasional narrative issues in executing its lofty ambitions.

9 Star Trek: The Original Series

Alexander Courage's fanfare that introduces Captain Kirk's "Space, the final frontier..." narration is one of the single most iconic musical cues in modern pop culture. The theme song that actually follows that fanfare is just sort of passable. The theme for Captain Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is very dated sounding, clearly a product of the 1960s, and the theme itself is not strong enough to overcome the old-fashioned production. There are a few different mixes of the song, but the most infamous is the one that cranks the female soprano singer's voice to the forefront, which is somewhat cringe-inducing.

8 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

For the pre-Kirk adventures of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) aboard the USS Enterprise, composer Jeff Russo reimagined the theme song from Star Trek: The Original Series . The fanfare is still great, and the theme song itself is much improved in this new form, featuring a more sophisticated arrangement and big, foreboding strings. The use of the theremin at the end of the theme is a nice nod to TOS. Like many aspects of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , the TOS theme song has been freshened up and made appealing for modern audiences.

7 Star Trek: Picard (Seasons 1 & 2)

The surprise return of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek: Picard was again given its theme song by composer Jeff Russo. It's a lovely, twinkling, slightly sad theme, as violins swirl around the signature flute piece, an homage to Picard's experience in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Inner Light." It's not exactly thrilling, but it's emotionally resonant, and it sets the stage perfectly for Picard's late life adventure to save Commander Data's (Brent Spiner) synthetic offspring Soji (Isa Briones).

6 Star Trek: Lower Decks

The adult animated comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks is often thought of as a lovingly irreverent spoof, but in many ways it understands Star Trek as well as any series in the franchise. Ensign Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) may be an anxious neurotic, but he also understands what Starfleet stands for about as well as anyone. Composer Chris Westlake's theme song is clearly channeling the Star Trek series of the 1990s, structured and composed in ways that would make old school Star Trek producer Rick Berman proud.

5 Star Trek: Prodigy

One of the most impressive aspects of the alternate reality Kelvin timeline films was the score, composed by current Hollywood powerhouse Michael Giacchino. He returned to the franchise to lend his talents to the theme song for Star Trek: Prodigy , Paramount+'s first series aimed squarely at children and families. Giacchino doesn't disappoint, providing a confident, galloping theme song that feels like a thrilling companion piece to his Kelvin timeline Star Trek work . It immediately became one of Star Trek 's finest themes.

4 Star Trek: Picard (Season 3)

Star Trek: Picard season 3 made some sweeping changes to the series, most notably putting Admiral Picard back on a Federation starship and reuniting him with his command crew from the USS Enterprise-D. The show's music also made a change; the opening credits were moved to the end of each episode, and Jeff Russo's theme was replaced by a new arrangement of the late Jerry Goldsmith's main theme from Star Trek: First Contact . Goldsmith's First Contact piece is one of the most beautiful in all of Star Trek , and hearing it while viewing the dazzling LCARS screens all over the bridge of the USS TItan-A is a nerdy delight.

3 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine has a reputation for being one of the darkest entries in Star Trek , and the theme song somewhat backs that up. The somber, reflective theme song begins with a single echoing horn, a fitting metaphor for the space station's position in a relatively remote part of space. The simple, mournful theme song got a musical overhaul at the beginning of season 4, beefing up the melodrama and intensity at the dawn of the brutal Dominion War.

2 Star Trek: Voyager

An argument can be made that the best thing about Star Trek: Voyager is its theme song. Written by legendary Star Trek composer Jerry Goldsmith, Voyager's theme song is all bombastic strings and horns, a dramatic melody that underscores how dire the situation is for Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and her surviving crew. It also manages to shoot that tension through with the sort of hopefulness that defines the best of Star Trek . it's one of Goldsmith's most affecting pieces of Star Trek music, which is saying something.

1 Star Trek: The Next Generation

The original plan was for Star Trek: The Next Generation to have a fully original theme song, but late in pre-production it was decided to use a combination of Alexander Courage's fanfare from Star Trek: The Original Series and Jerry Goldsmith's main theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture . The result is the single most iconic theme song in all of Star Trek , a confident march that hits every note with intense purpose. For many Star Trek fans, it's the defining sound of adventure and space exploration.