Classical Music in Star Trek

by Bernd Schneider and Jörg Hillebrand

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Classical music of European origin can be heard in Star Trek episodes and movies on various occasions.

The following list contains all pieces that we could identify, ordered by the name of the composer. All music is either performed by the characters or it is a recording played by the computer. Background music is not taken into account.

Notes on audio files We have included a public domain or Creative Commons licensed recording wherever one was available. The OGG files can be played in most browsers with HTML5 support (the notable exception being iOS/Safari). The audio files are stored in a password-protected directory. You can start the players and/or download all OGG files after logging in, with user name "guest" and Riker's middle name as password (case-sensitive). Note that some browsers may have "enhanced" security settings that will not display the password hint (Chrome, Safari) or that will not start the player and only allow to download the OGG files (IE).

 

B

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007 Prelude This piece plays during the scene in the study in PIC: "Absolute Candor", in which Picard discusses the detour to Vashti with Raffi, Rios and Jurati.


Bach - Cello Suite No.1 in G major - Prelude
IMSLP, performed by Thomas Auner

Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, BWV 1041 First movement (Allegro moderato) This music plays in the mind of the Soong android, at the beginning as Data begins to hand over his memories to Lore, in PIC: "Surrender".


Bach - Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor - 1. Allegro moderato
IMSLP, performed by Cambridge Concentus

Concerto for Two Violins, Strings and Continuo in D minor ("Bach Double"), BWV 1043 First movement (Vivace) We can hear a short passage near the end of the first movement when Picard puts on his headgear again after talking to Geordi, and re-enters the concert room in "Star Trek: Insurrection".


Bach - Concerto for Two Violins in D minor - 1. Vivace
Pandora, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra with David Parry and Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violins)

Third Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1048 First movement (Allegro)

Data listens to Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto (and three more pieces) in order to analyze its aesthetics in TNG: "A Matter of Time".

In TNG: "Lessons", Captain Picard (Ressikan flute) and Nella Daren (Mataline II piano) play the first movement (Allegro). They soon decide to switch to something simple, "Frère Jacques".

Stamets initiates this music in DIS: "...But to Connect" to distract Zora when he enters the room and demands to continue the debate about Zora's sentience at a place where she can't hear them.


Bach - Third Brandenburg Concerto - 1. Allegro
Musopen, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra

Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor "Quasi una fantasia" (Moonlight Sonata), Op. 27 No. 2 First movement (Adagio sostenuto) Nella Daren plays a small excerpt of the first movement on her Mataline II piano in a Jefferies tube in TNG: "Lessons", before Picard changes to the Ressikan tune.

Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 14 - 1. Adagio sostenuto
Copyright: Bernd Krueger
Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor ("Pathétique"), Op. 13 First movement (Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio) The computer plays only the first few notes of the first movement in "Star Trek: Insurrection". The "rejuvenated" Picard is not content with the music choice and switches to a mambo.


Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 8 - 1. Grave - Allegro di molto e con brio
Musopen, performed by Paul Pitman

Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral"), Op. 68 First movement (Allegro ma non troppo) - Erwachen heiterer Gefühle bei der Ankunft auf dem Lande ("Awakening of joyous feelings upon arrival in the country") Geordi La Forge listens to the first movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in a shuttlepod while en route to Risa in TNG: "The Mind's Eye" when suddenly the Romulan Warbird shows up.

Beethoven - Symphony No. 6 - 1. Allegro ma non troppo
Musopen, performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 Second Movement (Molto vivace) Data listens to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (and three more pieces) in order to analyze its aesthetics in TNG: "A Matter of Time".


Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 - 2. Molto vivace
Musopen, performer unknown

Louis Hector Berlioz
Les Troyens Vallon Sonore

Captain Jean-Luc Picard listens to the aria in his ready room during the Battle of Sector 001 in "Star Trek: First Contact", so loud that his tea cup shakes. Riker mistakenly identifies the piece as "Bizet".

Worf listens to the same piece in PIC: "Seventeen Seconds" as Raffi Musiker wakes up after her drug trip.

Show/hide libretto
Alexander Borodin
Prince Igor Act 2 - Polovtsian Dances, "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" This music, with additional drum beats, plays as Boimler enters the ballroom for the legendary Command Conference after party in LOW: "An Embarrassment of Dooplers". In the recording of the original act of the opera, "Gliding Dance of the Maidens" starts at 2:48.

Borodin - Polovtsian Dances
Davis High School Symphony Orchestra
Johannes Brahms

Clarinet Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major, Op. 120 First movement (Allegro amabile) Harry Kim is practicing the first movement of Sonata No. 2 in VOY: "Tuvix" when he receives a call from the Doctor.
Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor - Geordi La Forge's "Moonlight on the Beach" holoprogram features a gypsy violinist playing Brahms's Hungarian Dance No. 5 in TNG: "Booby Trap". Later in the episode Geordi will encounter another Brahms on the holodeck.


Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G minor
JHenkel, performed by Fuldaer Symphonisches Orchester

Intermezzo No. 1 in E-flat major, Op.117 First movement (Andante moderato) Janeway chooses the piece as dinner music before having a dinner with Chakotay aboard USS Voyager in VOY: "Timeless".


Brahms - Intermezzo Op.117 No. 1 - 1. Andante moderato
IMSLP, performed by Ivan Ilić

String Sextet No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 182 Second movement (Andante, ma moderato) The second movement of the sextet is performed (by a quartet!) in honor of Ambassador Sarek aboard the USS Enterprise-D in TNG: "Sarek". This is the music that brings a tear to Sarek's eye.


Brahms - String Sextet No.1 - 2. Andante, ma moderato
IMSLP, Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, performed by Musicians from Marlboro

Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35 Book 2, variation 13 In TNG: "Galaxy's Child", Geordi La Forge wants to impress Leah Brahms, who is about to visit him in his quarters. He asks the computer for "Brahms, a piano etude", and the computer plays the Variations on a Theme of Paganini (book 2, variation 13). Fortunately he decides that the idea of playing Brahms is corny.

 

C

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Frédéric Chopin
Barcarolle in F-sharp major - Seven of Nine chooses the piece for a rendezvous with the holographic Chakotay in VOY. "Human Error".
Nocturne No. 1 in E minor, Op. posth. 72 - Seven of Nine plays this piece on the piano on the holodeck in VOY: "Human Error", at the very beginning of the episode.

Chopin - Nocturne No. 1 in E minor
Musopen, performed by Peter J
Nocturne No. 2 in E major, Op. 9 no. 2 - This piece plays in Captain Shaw's quarters during the dinner in PIC: "The Next Generation". He tells Riker that he doesn't like jazz and adds: "I like structure. I like meter. I like keeping tempo and time."

Chopin - Nocturne No. 2 in E major
Musopen, performed by Frank Levy
Prelude No. 4 in E minor, Op. 28 -

Matthew, a boy living in the colony of Moab IV, performs the piece during a visit of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D in TNG: "The Masterpiece Society".

Admiral Janeway fittingly listens to the prelude aboard the USS Dauntless at the beginning of PRO: "Preludes".


Chopin - Prelude No. 4 in E minor
Porticodoro / SmartCGArt Media Productions
Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Piano in G minor, Op. 8 First movement (Allegro con fuoco) The piece is performed by Data (violin), Nella Daren (piano) and Ensign Cheney (cello) aboard the USS Enterprise-D in TNG: "Lessons".
Vincenzo de Crescenzo
Rondine al nido First stanza The EMH performs this song during his last concert on the Qomar homeworld in VOY: "Virtuoso". He is interrupted by Tincoo who presents her "improved" holographic matrix, "designed specifically to extend the range of humanoid vocal capabilities".

de Crescenzo - Rondine al nido
Paramount/CBS, performed by Agostino Castagnola, portrayed by Robert Picardo

Show/hide libretto

 

D

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Antonín Dvořák
The Slavonic Dance No. 8, Op. 46 - When Data is hooked up to the Enterprise computer in TNG: "A Fistful of Datas" his files replace many other personal files. Picard's Mozart trio is partially overwritten by the Slavonic Dance No. 8 by Dvořák.

Dvorřák - The Slavonic Dance No. 8
United States Navy Band

 

G

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
W. S. Gilbert

Arthur Sullivan
HMS Pinafore A British Tar In "Star Trek: Insurrection", Picard selects the song to distract the malfunctioning Data, chasing the android's scout ship in the atmosphere of the Ba'ku homeworld. Picard encourages the reluctant Worf to sing with him.

Gilbert and Sullivan - HMS Pinafore - A British Tar
D'Oyly Carte Opera Company & London Symphony Orchestra, 1930, dig. by F. Reeder

Show/hide libretto
The Pirates of Penzance I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General

While working in a cargo bay, Beverly persuades Geordi to try the Major-General's song. He just sings the first two lines. Shortly afterwards, a quantum filament strikes the ship.

Number One sings this song in SHO: "Q&A". Spock first doesn't seem to be amused but then joins in.


Gilbert and Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance - I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General
George Baker & D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent, 1929, dig. by F. Reeder

Show/hide libretto

 

H

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Johan Halvorsen

Georg Friedrich Händel
Passacaglia in G minor for Violin and Viola on a Theme by Georg Friedrich Händel (from Harpsichord Suite in G minor, HWV 432) - Data (violin) performs the Passacaglia together with his "mother" Juliana Tainer (viola) aboard the USS Enterprise-D in TNG: "Inheritance". Juliana's perfect play provides Data with a cue that she is actually another Soong-type android.

The same piece plays (very faintly) in the mind of the Soong android, as Data mentions that he is losing focus and Lore replies he is losing his existence, in PIC: "Surrender".


Halvorsen - Passacaglia on a Theme by Händel
Pandora, performed by Roxana Pavel Goldstein (violin) and Elias Goldstein (viola)
Georg Friedrich Händel
Concerto Grosso in B minor, Op. 6, No. 12, HWV 330 Second movement (Allegro) This piece plays in the crew lounge of the Cerritos in LOW: "Empathalogical Fallacies" when T'Lyn enters and everyone acts crazy.


Händel - Concerto Grosso in B minor
IMSLP, performed by Bamberger Symphoniker, conducted by Fritz Lehmann
Joseph Haydn
String Quartet No. 5 in D major ("The Lark"), Op. 64 Fourth movement (Vivace) The fourth movement is played during the reception for the Evora in "Star Trek Insurrection", just after Picard has received the headgear.

Haydn - String Quartet No. 5 - 4. Vivace
Musopen, performer unknown

 

M

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Gustav Mahler
Symphony No. 1 Second movement The second movement is played over the ship's comm system when Kashyk comes aboard the ship for an inspection in VOY: "Counterpoint". Janeway plays the piece again when she tricks Kashyk in the end.

Mahler - Symphony No. 1 - 2.
Virtual Philharmonic Orchestra, rendered by Reinhold Behringer
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy
Wedding March in C major, Op. 61 - On the biomimetic duplicate of Voyager, Harry Kim performs the Wedding march on the clarinet, on the occasion of the wedding of Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres in VOY: "Course: Oblivion".

Mendelssohn - Wedding March
New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by George Szell, 1951, dig. by F. Reeder
Federico Mompou
Cançó i Dansa / Cancion y Danza No. 6 - The piece is played in Will and Deanna's quarters in "Star Trek: Nemesis". Deanna tells Will to come to bed, whereupon Riker's image changes to that of Shinzon in her mind.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ave verum corpus, KV 618 - Commander Annika Hansen listens to this music when confined to her quarters for insubordination in PIC: "Seventeen Seconds". She stops the playback when the doorbell chimes (Sidney La Forge is outside to affirm Seven of her moral support).

Mozart - Ave verum corpus
Musopen, performed by Orchestra Gli Armonici
Clarinet Concerto in A Major, KV 622 First movement (Allegro) At the beginning of VOY: "Parturition", Harry Kim is playing the first movement of the concerto in his quarters when Tom Paris enters. Tom asks Harry to play something pessimistic, because he is unhappily in love with Kes. Harry eventually plays a cheerful piece though, written by Mozart's favorite clarinetist Anton Stadler.

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A Major - 1. Allegro
Wikimedia, performed by Fuldaer Symphonisches Orchester with clarinetist Bruce Edwards
Divertimento in Bb No. 2, KV Anh. 229 (439b) - Jean-Luc Picard overlays his own performance on a Ressikan flute against an oboe and cello performance of Mozart's Divertimento, thereby creating the "Picard Mozart Trio". The recording, like many other personal files, gets corrupted in TNG: "A Fistful of Datas" and is partially overwritten by Dvorřák's Slavonic Dance No. 8.
Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G major), KV 525 First movement (Allegro)
Second movement (Andante)

In TNG: "Where No One Has Gone Before", a crew member imagines playing the first movement together with three other musicians, when he is in fact alone in the room.

In TNG: "The Ensigns of Command", a string quartet consisting of Data (violin), Miles O'Brien (cello) and two more crew members of the Enterprise-D (violin and viola) can be heard playing the first movement. Captain Jean-Luc Picard later listens to an audio recording of the second movement (Andante) that Beverly Crusher made as he wasn't able to attend the concert.


Mozart - Eine kleine Nachtmusik - 1. Allegro
Pandora, performed by the Advent Chamber Orchestra
Piano Concerto Number 17 in G major, KV 453 Third movement (Allegretto) The third movement of the piece (Allegretto) is played during the reception on Arkaria held by Commander Calvin Hutchinson when the USS Enterprise-D is undergoing a baryon sweep in orbit of the planet in TNG: "Starship Mine".
Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, KV 545 First movement (Allegro) Commander Tucker plays the first movement of the piece (Allegro) for the cogenitor in his quarters aboard the Enterprise NX-01 when the two are awaiting the decision about the cogenitor's asylum in ENT: "Cogenitor".

Mozart - Piano Sonata No. 16 - 1. Allegro
Musopen, performer unknown
String Quartet No. 17 in B-flat major ("The Hunt"), KV 458 First movement (Allegro vivace assai) The end of the first movement can be heard during the reception for the Evora in "Star Trek Insurrection", just after Picard has entered the room to greet the regent.

Mozart - String Quartet No. 17 - 1. Allegro vivace assai
IMSLP, Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, performed by the Borromeo String Quartet
String Quartet No. 19 in C major ("Dissonance"), KV 465 First movement (Adagio - Allegro) The first movement is performed during a Mozart recital in honor of Ambassador Sarek aboard the USS Enterprise-D in TNG: "Sarek". Curiously the musicians skip the adagio and jump straight to the allegro part, almost 2 minutes into the first movement.

Mozart - String Quartet No. 19 - 1. Adagio - Allegro
IMSLP, Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, performed by the Borromeo String Quartet
Symphony No. 41 in C major ("Jupiter Symphony"), KV 551 First movement (Allegro vivace) Data listens to the Jupiter Symphony (and three more pieces) in order to analyze its aesthetics in TNG: "A Matter of Time".

Mozart - Symphony No. 41 - 1. Allegro vivace
Musopen, European Archive Music
Symphony No. 45 in D major, KV 95 First movement (Allegro) This music plays in the opening scene of the season, as Aditya Sahil gets up from his programmable matter bed, brushes his teeth with a programmable matter beam, takes place at his programmable matter desk and scans in vain for signals.

 

P

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Giacomo Puccini
La Bohème Che gelida manina Data sings the first three lines of this aria for Jenna D'Sora in TNG: "In Theory", while cleaning up her room.

Puccini - La Bohème - Che gelida manina
Orville Harrold (tenor), 1920, dig. by Tim Ecker

Show/hide libretto
La Bohème O soave fanciulla In VOY: "The Swarm", the Doctor performs this aria together with a holographic reconstruction of the famous 22nd century soprano Guiseppina Pentangeli. When the Doctor gets into an argument with her, he says that he'd consider singing with Maria Callas next time.

Puccini - La Bohème - O soave fanciulla
Wikimedia and Adam Cuerden, performed by Enrico Caruso and Nellie Melba, 1907

Show/hide libretto

 

R

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Anton Reicha
Wind Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 88 No. 2 Third movement (Andante grazioso) Data (oboe), Jenna D'Sora (flute), Keiko O'Brien (clarinet) and two other crew members (bassoon and horn) perform the third movement in a concert aboard the USS Enterprise-D in TNG: "In Theory".

Reicha - Wind Quintet in E-flat major - 3. Andante grazioso
Pandora, performed by the Soni Ventorum Wind Quintet, 1986

 

S

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Erik Satie
First Gymnopédie - Picard listens to the First Gymnopédie during the auto-destruct countdown in TNG: "Where Silence Has Lease".

Satie - First Gymnopédie
Musopen, Agathe Laforge, performer unknown
Domenico Scarlatti
Sonata in C major ("La caccia"), K. 159 (L 104) - Trelane plays the piece on his harpsichord on the planet Gothos, just after the landing party has entered the castle in TOS: "The Squire of Gothos".

Scarlatti - Sonata in C major
Veronica van der Knaap, Christchurch, New Zealand
Robert Schumann
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15 First movement - Von fremden Ländern und Menschen (Of Foreign Lands And Peoples) In VOY: "Human Error", the holographic Chakotay listens to Seven of Nine playing Schumann's Kinderszenen, saying it is one of his favorite pieces. He then stops the metronome that is hampering the performance in his view.

Schumann - Kinderszenen - 1.
Musopen, performer unknown
John Philip Sousa
The Stars and Stripes Forever -

We can see the sheet music of the piece on the piano in the jazz bar in TNG: "11001001", which is curious because the musicians likely wouldn't play it.

In TNG: "Evolution", one of the malfunctions that the nanites create is that all comm channels on the Enterprise-D play "The Stars and Stripes Forever".


Sousa - The Stars and Stripes Forever
US States Marine Band
Anton Stadler
Duettino No. 3 - This is the cheerful piece that Harry plays after the Mozart clarinet concerto in VOY: "Parturition" (although Tom asked for something pessimistic to reflect his mood).
Johann Strauss II
Frühlingsstimmen, Op. 410 - When the Doctor is trapped in Seven of Nine's body to evade Lokirrim detection in VOY: "Body and Soul", he/she dims the light in the Delta Flyer, replicates some champagne and dances the Frühlingsstimmen waltz ("EMH music file gamma 12") with the Lokirrim Captain Ranek to get close enough to stun him.
Rosen aus dem Süden (Roses from the South), Op. 388 - Trelane makes Uhura play the waltz on his harpsichord in TOS: "The Squire of Gothos".

Strauss - Roses from the South
Musopen, performer unknown
An der schönen blauen Donau (The Blue Danube), Op. 314 -

In order to celebrate Captain Benjamin Sisko's approval of taking their analysis regarding the Dominion War to Starfleet Command in DS9: "Statistical Probabilities", the four genetically engineered Humans, Jack, Lauren, Patrick, and Sarina Douglas hold a party with Doctor Bashir. They drink champagne and dance to Strauss's Blue Danube waltz.

Voyager's Doctor plays the Blue Danube waltz in one of his recitals in VOY: "Renaissance Man". When he and Captain Janeway are abducted by the Hierarchy, the Doctor alters a recording of the waltz so that it would sound out of tune. By performing a Fourier analysis, Seven of Nine finds out that the harmonics of the piece have been modified to imitate a warp signature. The crew is able to track the signature and thereby locate the Doctor and the captain.


Strauss - The Blue Danube
Musopen, performer unknown

 

T

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Francisco Tárrega
Prelude No. 4 in A minor - Data plays this piece on the guitar in TNG: "Silicon Avatar".
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 Second movement (Andantino in modo di canzona), B flat minor Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4, second movement, is played in the mess hall when Janeway and Kashyk (who has allegedly defected) are working on finding the wormhole in VOY: "Counterpoint". The eponymous counterpoint in the music gives Janeway a cue that the spatial parameters could have a counterpoint in subspace. The same piece is played once again in the episode during Kashyk's following inspection, after his return to duty.

Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4 - 2. Andantino in modo di canzona
Musopen, performer unknown

 

V

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Guiseppe Verdi
Rigoletto La donna è mobile

Data listens to the aria (and three more pieces) in order to analyze its aesthetics in TNG: "A Matter of Time".

When his daydream algorithm goes awry, the Doctor imagines that he is performing this piece in the mess hall in VOY: "Tinker Tenor Doctor Spy". When Tuvok unexpectedly enters pon farr during the recital, the Doctor sings an altered version while "curing" him.

Voyager's Doctor is singing the song in his office, when Seven removes his singing algorithms to prepare him for his transfer to the Alpha Quadrant in VOY: "Life Line".

The Doctor briefly hums the aria in PRO: "Imposter Syndrome".


Verdi - Rigoletto - La donna è mobile
IMSLP, Alain M. Jacques, performed by Jacques Pottier


Verdi - Rigoletto - La donna è mobile (EMH version)
Paramount/CBS, from the episode

Show/hide libretto
Rigoletto Questa o quella The Doctor sings this aria during an away mission in the cockpit of the Delta Flyer in VOY: "Renaissance Man".

Verdi - Rigoletto - Questa o quella
Paramount/CBS, from the episode

Show/hide libretto
Rigoletto Veglia, o donna, questo fiore In VOY: "The Void", the Doctor hums the aria in sickbay while treating Fantôme, a member of a species native to the Void, where Voyager is trapped. As Fantôme seems to relax when he hears the song, the Doctor plays the full orchestral version of the aria while treating the injuries. Seven of Nine gets the idea that music may be a way of communication with Fantôme's species.

Verdi - Rigoletto - Veglia, o donna, questo fiore
Paramount/CBS, from the episode

Show/hide libretto
Don Carlos Dio, che nell'alma infondere The Doctor performs the aria aboard Voyager for an audience of Voyager crew members and a number of fascinated Qomar in VOY: "Virtuoso". He later gives small holograms of him singing the same song to Qomar admirers, even singing a duet with his small holographic self.

Verdi - Don Carlos - Dio, che nell'alma infondere
Paramount/CBS, from the episode

Show/hide libretto
Antonio Vivaldi
Le quattro stagioni (The Four Seasons) - Primavera First movement (Allegro) This piece is played by the Earth probe Friendship One when it contacts the planet Uxal in VOY: "Friendship One".

Vivaldi - The Four Seasons - Primavera - 1. Allegro
John Harrison

 

W

Composer Piece Movement or aria Episode(s)
Richard Wagner
Lohengrin Treulich geführt (Bridal Chorus)

The traditional wedding march is played on the wedding of of Angela Martine and Robert Tomlinson aboard the USS Enterprise in TOS: "Balance of Terror".

We can also hear the piece in VOY: "Course Oblivion" on the wedding of the biomimetic duplicates of Tom and B'Elanna, here played by Harry Kim on the clarinet and two other crew members (double bass and guitar).


Wagner - Lohengrin - Bridal Chorus
Incompetech, Kevin MacLeod
Lohengrin Prelude to Act III Harry Mudd plays this over the comm system in one time loop in DIS: "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad", just before he enters the bridge of the Discovery to take command. Prelude to Act III encompasses the above bridal chorus in its middle and at its end, but we only hear the beginning in the episode.


Wagner - Lohengrin - Prelude to Act III
Musopen, European Archive

 

Unidentified Classical Music

There are still pieces of classical music heard in Star Trek that have not yet been identified:

 

Original Music

The following compositions were created especially for use in an episode and are not classical in a narrow sense.

TOS: Requiem for Methuselah

Spock plays a waltz on the piano that he recognizes as an unknown work of Johannes Brahms. Flint, the only inhabitant of the planet, claims that he actually was Brahms (and several other historical figures, including Methuselah, Solomon, Alexander, Lazarus, Merlin and Leonardo da Vinci). In the real world, the waltz was composed by Ivan Ditmars especially for this episode and is named "Pseudo Brahms Esq.".

TNG: Where No One Has Gone Before

The classical ballet music we can hear when the ensign hallucinates that she dances (and Picard walks by) was composed especially for the episode too. The composer is Ron Jones, and he named it "Waltz of the Chocolate Donut".

TNG: Elementary, Dear Data

The violin melody played by Data as Sherlock Holmes on the holodeck at the beginning of this episode was composed by Dennis McCarthy and is called "Sherlock Tones".

VOY: Night

Harry Kim plays a piece he calls "Echoes of the Void" on his clarinet while the ship is in the "Void", a region devoid of stars in VOY: "Night". We can hear only a few notes, and most likely this is another original piece.

VOY: Latent Image

The piece of piano music that Kathryn Janeway listens to in her quarters while reading La Vita Nuova in VOY: "Latent Image" was composed and performed by Paul Baillargeon especially for this episode: "...So I wrote something that was like Chopin and we recorded it at the end of the session. They pulled out the big grand piano and I just played it.".

 

Addendum

National anthems

Parts of the American National Anthem (The Star-Spangled Banner) can be heard in TOS: "The Omega Glory" when the American flag is brought in. Parts of the French National Anthem (La Marseillaise) are played when the crew runs into Q's Napoleonic creatures for the first time in TNG: "Hide and Q". Both pieces are only background music and remain unnoticed by the characters.

Sabotage

"Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys is referred to as "classical music" in "Star Trek Beyond".

 

Credits

The basic list of classical music comes from Memory Alpha. Most of the screen caps are from TrekCore. All composer portraits are taken from Wikipedia. This project wouldn't have been possible without the free music archives such as IMSLP, Archive.org, ibiblio.org and Musopen.

Thanks to Lukas Kendall for the information about the Sherlock Holmes violin composition, to Twitter user @tngliker for identifying the Polovtsian Dances and to @Boatrek1, @CrookedPatriot, @WillFactorMedia and @jasonptodd for hints about the music in PIC: "Surrender".

 


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