: (Jerry Goldsmith/Morton Stevens) At the
height of the appeal of network television mini-series,
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
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
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,
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.
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: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 113 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.3
(in 142,668 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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