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•	2000 Album

•	2021 Album

•	2011 Album

The orchestral ensemble lends a Western base to the score's instrumentation, but the character of Tora! Tora! Tora! is largely defined in memory by the Japanese accents and unconventional usage that laces most of the work. The openly ethnic representation is provided by koto and serpent, a low-pitched woodwind, and secondary tones are provided by sitar and marimba. The bulk of the unusual application of conventional instruments relates to Goldsmith's percussive experimentation that was common in everything from Planet of the Apes to The Mephisto Waltz at the time, though distinctive in this particular effort are the descending groans used at the start of "Main Title" and "Pre-Flight Countdown" to possibly emulate the sound of dive bombers. There are some restrained electronics in the soundscape, including some Moog synthesizer tones for atmospheric purposes in "Little Hope" and odd ascending slurs akin to air raid sirens in "Sunday Morning." Squishy sound effects later in the picture are a weird addition. Just as he had done in Patton, the composer applied some Echoplexing to brass in "The Waiting Game." In those cues and "The 14th Part," there are extended sequences of slight rhythmic mood from detuned piano and percussion, with puffs from the orchestra at times to add menace, especially from bassoons. He eventually focuses a battle rhythm out of these constructs, a brutal idea of typical Goldsmith meter pounding on low piano. It fights through the bass of "Mt Niitaka" to depict the Japanese fleet versus a storm and is boiled down to minimal percussive presence throughout "The Waiting Game" and into the first half of "Sunday Morning." It accelerates with tension in "The 14th Part" on piano and blocks, becomes oddly plucked on koto against wet synthesizer sound effects in "Pre-Flight Countdown," and culminates in a faster version that continues on blocks in "On the Way." For the more blatant representation of the Axis powers in the story, Goldsmith unleashes a highly aggressive, ascending figure that is teased at the outset of "Main Title" but exists on full, brash tones at 1:53. Brass explodes with the idea at the start of "The Chancellery" for the formation of the Axis and becomes subtle on woodwinds by the start of "Little Hope," hinting its intentions in the middle of "The 14th Part." The composer turns it around at 1:30 into "The Final Message" as the war rudely arrives for the Americans, the formal declaration arriving from the Japanese an hour after the start of the battle in a terrible breach of war etiquette.

The only lasting attraction in the score for Tora! Tora! Tora! is Goldsmith's main theme, one tasked with representing the honor, dignity, and tragedy of the Japanese. A very long-lined and meandering theme of quiet agony, it occasionally aligns harmonies to supply melodrama of an immense but troubled stature. Secondary lines include a fanfare-like mode for the possibility of war, and while the melodic progressions have an Oriental personality, their rendering is Western. Performed early in "Main Title" on koto and serpent before the orchestra takes several renditions, a sitar doubles up with the koto for additional depth. Each performance of the cyclical theme adds brass, string, and percussion intensity, dissonant chords sometimes aligning tonally for maximum impact. A militaristic tone overtakes the early cultural elegance in one long culmination of consequence. The main theme is then dramatic on strings at the end of "Little Hope" for the reveal of the Japanese model of the harbor and tentative on koto in "Predictions" under a dissonant haze. Very slow on koto and serpent in "Disagreement" with deep worry in the bass region, the theme is afforded a variation of the "Main Title" arrangement for darker string and brass shades in "Entr'acte," the secondary phrases not stated but an artificial resolution added at the end. An ominous rendition of the theme on brass punctuates the panic of "On the Way," and koto tries to keep it focused against disturbed rising pitches and tense rhythms in "The Final Message." The theme consolidates late in that final cue for cellos and brass as the Japanese realize the implications of their attack; this performance is as openly Western as the score gets, showing American resolve and using the same ending as in "Entr'acte." Recorded for a possible album is a fascinating and elegant solo piano rendition in "Tora Theme (Piano)" and a bizarre sideshow in "Tora Theme (Orchestra)" during which a sitar carries the melody into the pop realm. Hearing this theme as a light pop rock piece is extremely strange, though it does explore new, somewhat romantic secondary phrases. The same 37-minute presentation of the score has been released on three limited CDs through the years, appending four source recordings, an alternative overlay, and the two record-oriented performances of the main theme. About twelve minutes of the score was re-recorded by The Royal Scottish Orchestra alongside Patton for a 1997 Varèse Sarabande product that remains an attractive alternative of highlights in much better sound. The original recording is more than decent, but it's a brutally introspective score with its three main theme performances the standout highlights.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

• Music as Written for the Film:  ****
• Music as Heard on Album:  ***
• Overall:  ***

Bias Check:

For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2 (in 146 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.22 (in 155,390 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.