The music to the 1996 science fiction film Star Trek: First Contact is composed by Jerry Goldsmith, in his third Star Trek film after The Motion Picture (1979) and The Final Frontier (1989). The film, directed by Jonathan Frakes, is based on the television series The Next Generation and the eighth Star Trek film overall. Goldsmith composed and recorded most of the cues in a short span of time with assistance from his son Joel Goldsmith, who in-turn had written few cues and additional music based on his father's motifs. The score was released by GNP Crescendo Records on December 2, 1996.

Goldsmith wrote a main title that begins with Alexander Courage's Star Trek fanfare, a norm with Star Trek films.^[1] He composed a pastoral theme linked to humanity's hopeful first contact, consisting of a four-note motif, that he used The Final Frontier score.^[2] This motif is previously used in First Contact as a friendship theme and general thematic link.^[2] To represent Borg, he wrote a menacing march with the addition of synthesizers. Besides composing new music, Goldsmith used his main theme and the Klingon theme from The Motion Picture, the latter was used to represent Worf.^[1][3]

Because of delays with Paramount's The Ghost and the Darkness, the already-short four-week production schedule was cut to just three weeks. While producer Rick Berman was concerned above the move,^[4] Goldsmith recruited his son Joel to assist him and complete the score in a short span of time.^[5] Joel provided additional music for the film, writing three cues based on his father's motifs and a total of 22 minutes of music he composed for the film.^[3][1] He used variations of Borg's and Klingon's theme as Worf fights hand-to-hand.^[6] When the Borg invade sickbay and the medical hologram distracts them, Joel wrote a cue that tuned strings and clarinet, resembling Aaron Copland's musical style, but the cue was unused. While Joel composed many of the film's action cues, his father contributed to the spacewalk and Phoenix flight sequences. During the fight on the deflector dish, Goldsmith used low-register electronics punctuated by stabs of violent, dissonant strings.^[6]

The score was recorded at the Paramount Scoring Stage at Paramount Pictures Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles from October 14–18, 1996.^[1]

The First Contact soundtrack was released by the independent label GNP Crescendo Records—which distributed all of the Star Trek film and television soundtracks—on December 2, 1996,^[7][8] The album contained 51 minutes of music, with 35 minutes of Jerry Goldsmith's score, 10 minutes of additional music by Joel Goldsmith, and two licensed songs—Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby" and Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride". The incorporation of licensed music in film, was against the norm in Star Trek film traditions; according to GNP's president Neil Norman explained that the decision to include the tracks was controversial but said that "Frakes did the most amazing job of integrating those songs into the story that we had to use them".^[7] The compact disc shipped with CD-ROM features only accessible if played on a personal computer,^[9] including interviews with Berman, Frakes, and Goldsmith.^[7]

On April 2, 2012, GNP Crescendo Records announced a limited-edition collector's CD pressed to 10,000 copies. It features the complete score by Jerry Goldsmith with additional music by his son Joel, newly remastered by recording engineer Bruce Botnick, with an accompanying 16-page booklet including informative notes by Jeff Bond and John Takis. The expanded album [GNPD 8079] runs 79 minutes and includes three tracks of alternates. It does not include the two songs as heard in the film.^[10]

Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com wrote "Star Trek: First Contact is a consistent score with outstanding cohesion, but a handful of questionable thematic attributes outside of the Borg material restrict its ambitions."^[11] Craig Lysy of Movie Music UK called it as "one of Jerry Goldsmith’s finest Star Trek scores and offers enduring testimony to his genius as a film score composer as well as his innate understanding of the Star Trek universe."^[12]

John Tenuto of TrekMovie.com wrote "Listening to tracks for the first time without the effects and dialog give listeners a better appreciation for Goldsmith's genius."^[13] Gregory Heaney of AllMusic wrote "While die-hard fans of the series more than likely already own the first release of the score, the complete edition is a must-hear for fans of Goldsmith's work for the sci-fi series."^[14] Reviewing for Den of Geek, Alex Carter summarized that "The main theme is a wonderful, yearning pastoral number that underlines the historical significance of the titular first contact, but the instrumentation makes it almost militaristic at the same time."^[15]

Credits adapted from CD liner notes^[16]

• Bond, Jeff (1999). The Music of Star Trek: Profiles in Style. Lone Eagle Publishing Company. ISBN 1580650120 – via Internet Archive.