Over the past 40 years, the original scores from Star Trek's talented composers have provided fans countless memorable musical moments — the attack of the "Doomsday Machine," the primeval Klingon strains from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," the driving cat-and-mouse duel of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," and of course the pounding combat theme from "Amok Time." But there's also a host of classical, folk and modern pop tunes woven into many of the stories, thanks to the culture of music often embraced by Star Trek's well-rounded and inquisitive characters.

Numerous compositions, songs and composers are mentioned in the various series, but have you ever wondered about the scope of the known musical strains actually heard throughout Star Trek?

The Original Series

"Sourced" music was actually rare on the original 1960s Star Trek, thanks in part to a less self-aware tone in that era of TV, and, frankly, to a meager budget for license fees. Even the mock classical music, as played on harpsichord by Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos" or the "psuedo-Brahms" waltz by Flint in "Requiem for Methuselah," were from the hand of the series' various composers. However, when Trelane makes Uhura play something "sprightly" on the harpsichord while he dances, the tune is actually Johann Strauss's "Rosen aus dem Süden? (Roses from the South), Op. 388 from 1880. And a few strains of a more familiar classical composition, the "Bridal Chorus? from Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin," are heard for the Tomlinson-Martine wedding in "Balance of Terror.? (The march is played again for the wedding of the biomemetic Paris and Torres in Voyager's "Course: Oblivion.?)

An infected Lt. Kevin Riley holds his own with the 19th century American classic "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" in "The Naked Time." Much to the annoyance, and danger, of the crew!

Although not strictly "sourced" music, there are some examples of tunes written for Star Trek to sound contemporary. There is the Uhura vocal on "Beyond Antares" (lyrics by Gene L. Coon) as heard in "The Conscience of the King," accompanying herself on Spock's Vulcan lute no less! Also memorable are the so-corny-they're-kitsch hippie-themed songs from "The Way to Eden." No, brother, these were not composed by Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley or any other popular contemporary musician at the time, but by episode co-star Charles Napier ("Adam").

Another exception for sourced music on TOS is "Good Night, Sweetheart" — made popular by the likes of Guy Lombardo and Rudy Vallee in the 1930s (not to be confused with the '50s doo-wop classic) — recorded for "The City On The Edge of Forever" with an unknown studio vocalist to serve as the theme for Kirk and Edith Keeler's doomed love in pre-war New York. Yet, cost still managed to become an issue: the first commercial videotapes of Star Trek in the 1980s disappointed many fans when a non-licensed melody was substituted in the soundtrack to save ancillary license fees. Since then, with the boom of post-broadcast uses generating more revenue, such fees are now more affordable — and the original song has now been restored for the DVD edition of "City."

The tradition of using soaring original scores almost exclusively was retained when Star Trek hit the big screen. The best known exception would be Scotty's bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" following Spock's send off in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Another big exception being the "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" campfire moment in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (a tune repeated in TNG's "Hero Worship"). But there's also a trio of pop standards played lounge-style in "McCoy's bar" of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock." Listen closely and you can pick out "I Remember You," "That Old Black Magic" and "Tangerine" — a mere hint of what's to come in Star Trek's various spinoffs.

In case you were wondering, the purposely loud and tuneless punk rock song heard in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was penned by the movie's associate producer Kirk Thatcher, who also cameod as the punk on the bus who was listening to the song.

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