Film & Television, Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

Omni Music Publishing was launched in 2011 by veteran of the film music recording industry, Tim Rodier. Based out of Los Angeles, they are one of the few music publishing companies devoted to publishing full orchestral scores of modern film music. Providing an excellent opportunity to study some of the greatest film scores of all time James Horner's score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is now available. Find out more below.

James Horner: Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan

Despite the lukewarm reception of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Paramount was committed to continuing with its enormous investment in resurrecting the franchise. Fledgling director Nicholas Meyer had a limited budget for the sequel. This smaller budget meant Jerry Goldsmith would not be considered to write music for the sequel. Instead, Paramount's vice president of music, Joel Sill, turned to a young composer writing top-notch scores for low-budget films: James Horner. What resulted is a perfectly crafted, perfectly executed feature, whose thematic elements touch on the human condition, the power of lifelong friendship, and finding impossible answers to impossible situations. Meyer's sequel was a huge success and managed to put Star Trek back on the map, spawning several more movies and cementing James Horner as the go-to composer of the 1980s.

Horner wasted no time creating a distinct sound for Meyer's vision. The maritime spirit of adventure pervades the main theme, and touches of Kirk's ineffable charm suffuse it with a slightly playful character. Kirk's theme is contrasted with Khan's darkly twisted and chromatic fanfare and Spock's otherworldly, pensive theme based on the tri-tone interval. Horner's score also pays tribute to Star Trek: The Motion Picture featuring the same chord pattern which permeated Goldsmith's score. This pattern has become firmly cemented with the concept of space exploration and discovery.