Alexander Courage

Alexander Courage (born 10 December 1919, died 15 May 2008) was a 20th century American composer of music, primarily for television and motion pictures. He is probably best known for writing the theme music to the original Star Trek television series. Words were written for that theme by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, not because Roddenberry ever expected the words to be sung, but because by claiming acknowledgement as the co-writer he earned half of the royalties from the song. Courage continued writing music for films throughout the 1990s until 2005. He frequently served as orchestrator for film scores by Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith and Courage also teamed on the long-running TV show The Waltons, in which Goldsmith composed the theme and Courage scored the Aaron Copland-influenced incidental music. John Williams also had assistance from Courage in the orchestration of some of his film music.