Buy it... on either of its albums if you value Jerry Goldsmith's few but memorable forays into the realm of massive historical epics, this one perhaps as impressive in its scale as any in his career despite existing for a television mini-series.

Avoid it... if you are deterred by the potentially overwrought sense of melodrama inherent in expansive biblical scores or Goldsmith's robust military marches, or if for some insane reason you are not impressed by The Wind and the Lion.

Goldsmith

Masada: (Jerry Goldsmith/Morton Stevens) At the height of the appeal of network television mini-series, Masada was a massive extravaganza of the highest order. Resurrecting the concept of the biblical epic from Hollywood's Golden Age, the six and a half hour 1981 event used its significant production budget to secure popular and veteran names in its cast and crew, led by Peter O'Toole in a powerful primary role. Although based on an Ernest K. Gann novel, the adaptation of Masada took some liberties with the facts surrounding the Roman siege of the famed Jewish fortress in the first century following Christ's death. Despite the convenient invention of several characters and sub-plots, the series (originally spread over four nights during its airing) does remain true to the most important circumstances, including brutality on the part of the Jews and sympathetic aspects within the Roman armies. Outstanding photography and lavish art direction, both contributing to a bloated budget over $20 million, helped the series earn strong critical response and high ratings, though poor preservation of the film has limited its appeal several decades later. One element of Masada that was equally praised but also surprisingly demanded only minimal attention in the decades to follow is Jerry Goldsmith's expansive music. The composer had earned his ticket to the industry with extensive work for television while in his twenties, carrying over that success to several Emmy-winning scores for a variety of genres on television in the early 1970's. In fact, Goldsmith outright dominated the Emmy scene during that time. As he entered an extremely fruitful period of the late 70's and early 1980's during which he was regularly nominated for Academy Awards (and winning once) for his superior motion picture output, though, the scoring of full mini-series for the medium became rare. Ultimately, Masada was one of those rare projects that Goldsmith actively sought to be involved with from the earliest stages, traveling to Israel in pre-production to research ancient instrumentation for use in the recording and write some of the thematic material necessary for use as source music in context.

The series revealed itself as Goldsmith's final endeavor for the small screen, an assignment as close to his heart and religious sensibilities as the impressive QB VII had been several years earlier and one that would earn him his only Emmy award of the 1980's (for the second "episode" of the series). Because the production of Masada ran long (ultimately airing a year behind schedule) and interfered with his commitment to Inchon, Goldsmith was frustrated to be limited to writing music for only the first two "episodes," handing over the latter two to veteran television composer and regular collaborator Morton Stevens, who had earned even greater Emmy recognition through the years than Goldsmith (for "Gunsmoke" and "Hawaii Five-O," primarily). While he did compose a few fresh motifs for ideas specific to the latter two parts of the show's story, Stevens mostly emulated and adapted Goldsmith's music, though collectors of his own works will hear plenty of moments when his own style enters the composition. He was nominated against Goldsmith for his music for the fourth Masada episode, though none of that material was shared on the initial album release with the more famous composer's portion. For a long time, that one album of 37 minutes of Goldsmith's music represented the only available material from Masada, first on LP record and then on CD from Varèse Sarabande in 1990. Its contents include several of the more melodic tracks re-recorded by Goldsmith in London (typically representing entire cues as heard in the series rather than piecing together several different cues into longer suites), and the product became out of print and rare despite some lingering issues with archival sound quality in places. The original recordings by Goldsmith and Stevens in Los Angeles never experienced any form of release until 2011, when Intrada Records provided every recorded cue for the production in a solid 2-CD presentation. The discussion about the music below begins with general observations based upon the 1990 album of the re-recording and then touches upon additional observations from the complete set of the actual score heard in the series.

Goldsmith's success with so many of his scores for television epics owes much to his belief that there was no difference in approaching a television and feature film score. The composer tackled Masada as though it were one really immense motion picture for the big screen, allowing him to follow The Wind and the Lion with another opportunity to transport himself back to the days of the grand epics that he was too late in his arrival on the Hollywood scene to be a part of. The full range of emotions experienced by both sides of the Roman/Jewish conflict in Masada is expertly captured by Goldsmith, resulting in a varied, highly engaging work that is grippingly emotive in most of its major sequences. He logically writes a score of opposing thematic identities and states them with inherently disparate styles of ambition and tragedy. The primary theme is a spirited march that pulls some inspiration from Goldsmith's patriotic military scores, though with just enough edge of the Old World to contain the score in the fantastic, larger-than-life atmosphere. Heard extensively in "Main Title" and "The Road to Masada," it is the kind of broad, stomping identity one would expect for grand aspirations of freedom and independence, summarizing not only the stereotypical sense of bravado for any epic set in this locale, but also the more spirited side of the Jewish resistance. The theme's bridge sequence transitions from brass to strings for a surprisingly fluid and elegant secondary representation. In these regards, the format is not much different from The Wind and the Lion, though the ensemble relies far more heavily on non-percussive elements. Only a faint hint of a harpsichord-like instrument (likely one of the contributors from ancient times) strays from the typical orchestral sounds in these performances. Growing out of the same stature but more rigidly structured is Goldsmith's brass march for the Romans, utilized like source music at times but sometimes also stated in heroic fragments reminiscent of The Wind and the Lion. In "Roman March," Goldsmith translates this theme into almost an exotic environment heavy on percussive colors to firmly place it in the same region and time period. Casual listeners will find some similarities between this relatively simplistic idea and the fanfare for Arthur in First Knight.

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A secondary theme for the suffering of the Jews in Masada is thoroughly explored in "The Slaves" and opens both that cue and "The Old City," among others. There is languishing of biblical proportion in the unmistakably melodramatic string movements of this theme, utilizing just enough progressions that play to the stereotypes of the culture and time without making the overall sound too foreign. The two themes for the Jews don't mingle in satisfactory ways in their presentation on album, though Goldsmith's standard five-minute concert suite arrangement of Masada is more impressively representative of the score than anything on its own albums. The 2011 complete album reveals a "love theme" involving the Romans, heard from "Her Desire" to "Sheva's Decision." This tender string-led theme is a clear precursor to Under Fire and others to follow. Stevens contributes a notable secondary theme in the closing episode as well, representing the final assault upon the hilltop fortress and the battering ram used by the Romans to ultimately end the siege. While Goldsmith's action stance for Masada may not compete with his classics, he does offer snippets of great rambunctious force, highlighted by "The Granary" (which is another clear The Wind and the Lion holdover). But Stevens' music from the climax of the fourth episode, culminating in a massive ten-minute cue, arguably overshadows Goldsmith's earlier work of this kind. The 1990 album largely omitted this music from the first two episodes, and perhaps for good reason; especially in the suspense portions, it's rather limp compared to contemporary efforts like Night Crossing. Goldsmith doesn't handle the sequences of tension or sustained explosive statements for the full ensemble with the kind of interesting rhythmic consistency in Masada, including music in "Night Raid" that is comparatively disappointing. Still, for its other two primary identities for the Jews, Masada is a very strong score, one that deserves appreciation as part of any Goldsmith collection. There are many differences in the performance, recording, and mixing aspects of the 1990 and 2011 CD offerings. The full score on the limited 2011 set definitely provides an outstanding presentation of the actual score, though while Intrada may denigrate the mix of the London recording as heard in the 1990 CD, some listeners will prefer its more dynamic reverb and depth. Cost and licensing issues made a combo release from Intrada impossible, unfortunately keeping the 1990 CD relevant for Goldsmith collectors. Either way, with a score of this magnitude, you win. ****   Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download

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For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.26 (in 113 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.32 (in 133,462 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.