The Star Trek: The Original Series theme is known worldwide
This couldn’t be any more evident than when Spanish Soprano Laura Ruhí Vidal appeared in London with the Rainer Hersch Orkestra (yes, that is the correct spelling). Like any good singer will do, Vidal wanted to warm up prior to her full performance, and Hersch was happy to oblige her after a bit of humor. The classical soprano gave her rendition of the theme for Star Trek: The Original Series, and it was pitch perfect.
Vidal’s warm-up didn’t just impress the crowd as the video, which was posted on May 15th, now has 1.7 million views, 59,000 likes, and over 2,700 comments. And the only criticism is for the title of the video as Vidal’s piece is classified as a parody when, in all actuality, it’s an homage. As one Star Trek fan wrote, it’s “the Trekkie national anthem.” And her Vulcan greeting at the end of the song just added to the pure perfection of the moment.
The theme to Star Trek: The Original Series is, perhaps, the most well-known, despite the many years and series that followed. Soprano Loulie Jean Norman voiced the wordless melody line which was used for most of the first two seasons. The first few episodes of the series did not use any vocals, and Norman’s vocals were dropped after the second season.
In 2006, CBS began airing a remastered version of the series which included a re-recording of the the theme. Norman’s vocals were replaced by Elin Carlson who said it was a dream come true for her as she was a lifelong Star Trek fan. She also said the style and feel of the original theme was “authentically reproduced.” Though the original theme will always have first place in our hearts, both Carlson and Vidal do a wonderful job of recreating the beginning to a series that means the world to us.