{"id":300,"date":"2019-10-07T17:10:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/star-trek-darkness-suite\/"},"modified":"2025-06-16T17:10:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T17:10:47","slug":"star-trek-darkness-suite","status":"publish","type":"program_note","link":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/program_note\/star-trek-darkness-suite\/","title":{"rendered":"Star Trek into Darkness Suite"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> This is Giacchino\u2019s fourth collaboration with the director, J. J. Abrams, including&nbsp;<em>Star Trek, <\/em>from 2009.&nbsp; Abrams is Hollywood\u2019s go-to guy for directing the science fiction adventure and super hero movies for which America\u2019s movie-going public has an apparently bottomless appetite.&nbsp;&nbsp; Among his myriad hits have been many \u201cStar Wars\u201d sequels, even more continuing the immortal \u201cStar Trek\u201d shows, as well as his debut flick, <em>Mission Impossible: III<\/em>.&nbsp; And, of course, many more. <em>Star Trek into Darkness<\/em> is the twelfth installment of the \u201cStar Trek\u201d movie stream.&nbsp; The usual, and familiar, characters are here, including Leonard Nimroy in his last appearance as Spock before his death.&nbsp; The plot, of course, is almost inscrutable in its twists and turns, but loyal fans of the series will encounter all of the familiar elements, and not be disappointed with spectacular special effects\u2014nominated for an Academy Award for the latter in 2014.<\/p>\n<p> The mastery of the musical style demanded of the composer by this genre is again exhibited by Giacchino\u2019s score.&nbsp; A thread of historical continuity is embedded in the music by the composer\u2019s use of the old, familiar main theme by Alexander Courage from the TV series of long ago.&nbsp; The grandeur of that theme played by soaring brass is artfully preserved by Giacchino.&nbsp; One cannot help but observe the irony that the sonic glories of the large symphony orchestra has become the essential musical element for the powerful, evocative stories of Hollywood epics.&nbsp; \u201cStar Wars\u201d and all the rest are inseparable from that musical palette.&nbsp;&nbsp; Thus, the variety of colors and effects of the modern symphony orchestra that was born of French Grand Opera\u2019s dramatic demands in the middle of the nineteenth century now lives on through the equally dramatic requirements of Hollywood space epics.&nbsp; Apparently, synthesizers, guitars, and saxophones will take you only so far.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211;Wm. E. Runyan<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 2018 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[118],"class_list":["post-300","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-michaelgiacchino"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}