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Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Tora! Tora! Tora! Tora! Tora! Tora!
Click to enlarge images.
Price: $19.95
Limited #: 4000
View CD Page at SAE Store
Line: Silver Age
CD Release: May 2000
Catalog #: Vol. 3, No. 4
# of Discs: 1

Jerry Goldsmith composed music for both major theatres of World War II in 1970: He scored the European battles in Patton and Pacific action in Tora! Tora! Tora! A joint American/Japanese production, Tora! was a painstaking and spectacular re-creation of the notorious Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that catapulted the United States into war.

Unlike the character-driven Patton, however, Tora! Tora! Tora! concentrates on larger themes of war, nationalism, and the failure to communicate. Composer Goldsmith had more than ample experience with both the musical language of Asia (evidenced in The Spiral Road, Morituri, The Sand Pebbles and The Chairman) and the war epic (demonstrated in In Harm's Way, Von Ryan's Express and The Blue Max), making him a perfect choice. He chose to score the implacable forces of war and fate and the ancient cultural underpinnings of the Japanese warriors so vividly depicted in the film.

The split production actually presents the Japanese more heroically than the bumbling Americans, and the score is written accordingly. Goldsmith's rich title theme is decorated with menace, but at its core is a description of tragedy and tradition: Japanese martial honor unbowed by the exigencies of diplomacy. Eschewing the idea of battle music, Goldsmith left the film's climactic attack unscored and saved his most violent orchestral passages for the diplomatic and tactical preludes to war. The score bristles with the unique instrumentation and overlapping rhythms so characteristic of Goldsmith's period at 20th Century-Fox in the '60s.

The result is a powerful work, full of majestic Asian writing and pulsating action cues that capture the unsettling sound of conflict. The CD includes every note written for the film, plus a suite of military band and dance source music and a pair of unused variations on the main theme, played on solo piano and as a pop-flavored arrangement—all in stereo. The 16-page booklet is in full color, with a wealth of behind-the-scenes pictures of the elaborate, effects-laden production.

Tora! Tora! Tora! was previously available only as a 15-minute re-recorded suite on Varese Sarabande's Patton/Tora! Tora! Tora! CD from 1997. This new CD features the original film performance; the complete score totals 36:43 and represents every last note the composer wrote for the picture. The film performance is markedly different from the more concert-hall ambiance of the re-recording. Climb Mt. Niitaka! Order yours today!

Jerry Goldsmith Scores on FSM
About the Composer

What to say about Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004), the reason so many of us are soundtrack collectors in the first place? The Los Angeles native knew early on he wanted to write music for the movies, had an extensive training in television in the 1950s (starting at CBS), and went on to an unparalleled career in the movies—capable of brilliance in every genre, and beloved by his peers and fans. FSM has released as many of his scores as we could get our hands on, from classic TV work like The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to famous features (Patton) and obscure gems like The Illustrated Man and 100 Rifles...heck, make that all of them. Jerry, we love you and miss you! IMDB

Comments (4):Log in or register to post your own comments
Just obtained the CD from Amazon UK (sigh of relief).

I put this score in with the Goldsmith greats. Anyway, why am I the first commenter, so many years after the CD was released?

If the score consisted of the main title theme alone, I'd have gone for it. Such beautiful simplicity layered with deeply emotive statements mingling, all the while building up to the fusion at the climax. Genius.

Yamamoto's famous comment could not have had a better master to accompany such solemnity.


I put this score in with the Goldsmith greats. Anyway, why am I the fist commenter, so many years after the CD was first released?
[/endquote]

I think it's because the ability to comment on a FSM cd by means of the board has been activated in the last half year? I'm not sure. That might explain why you are the first.

But it certainly deserves a comment if not two ;)

Oops (sorry, Scoresalot). What he said!

Welcome to the boards, Grecchus, and congratulations on snagging a copy of this fabulous CD. When FSM released this score, back in May 2000, the Film Score Monthly was mainly a print publication and the website was not as sophisticated as it is today. In recent years, Lukas and his team have given the site a massive revamp and cross-linked its CD catalog with the message boards, so that is why there are no other discussions showing under the FSM listing for this disc.

There have been plenty of discussions about the music and this release, a couple of which you'll find here:

Tora! Tora! Tora!
December 23, 2001
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=6089&forumID=1&archive=1

Tora! Tora! Tora! Suspended Drama
October 23, 2009
http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=63209&forumID=1&archive=0

There have been plenty of discussions about the music and this release, a couple of which you'll find here:

Thanking you in appreciation!

Track List
Instruments/Musicians
Click on each musician name for more credits

Leader (Conductor):
Jerry (Jerrald) Goldsmith

Viola:
Myer Bello, Samuel Boghossian, Joseph DiFiore, Cecil Figelski, Phillip Goldberg, Jan Hlinka, Myra Kestenbaum, Louis Kievman, Virginia Majewski, Alex Neiman, Robert Ostrowsky, Sven Reher, Joseph Reilich, Armand Roth, Milton Thomas

Cello:
Margaret Aue-Van Wyck, Vance Beach, Naoum Benditzky, Paul Bergstrom, Joseph Coppin, Joseph DiTullio, Justin DiTullio, Armand Kaproff, Raphael "Ray" Kramer, Lucien Laporte, Irving Lipschultz, Nino Rosso, Emmet Sargeant, Victor Sazer, Frederick R. Seykora, Jeffrey G. Solow, Gloria Strassner

Bass:
Suzanne Ailman (Stokes), Nathaniel Gangursky, Milton Kestenbaum, Abraham Luboff, Peter A. Mercurio, Meyer (Mike) Rubin, Ray Siegel, Robert King Stone

Flute:
Arthur Hoberman, Luella Howard, Sheridon W. Stokes

Oboe:
Norman Benno, John F. Ellis, Gordon Pope

Clarinet:
Russell Cheever, Gene Cipriano, Morris Crawford, Dominick Fera, Abe Most, Ted Nash

Bassoon:
Don Christlieb, Jack Marsh, Ray Nowlin

French Horn:
John W. "Jack" Cave, James A. Decker, Vincent N. DeRosa, William A. Hinshaw, James M. McGee, Harry Schmidt

Trumpet:
Frank Beach, John Clyman, Robert Divall, Robert Fowler, Carroll "Cappy" Lewis

Trombone:
Harold Diner, Ray Klein, Edward Kusby, Phillip A. Teele

Tuba:
Clarence Karella

Euphonium:
Daniel D. Cerilly

Piano:
Artie Kane, John Jack Latimer

Organ:
Clark Spangler

Guitar:
Trefoni "Tony" Rizzi, Fred T. Tavares

Ukulele:
Ernest A. Tavares

Koto:
Kazue Kudo

Samisen:
Robert F. Bain

Harp:
Anne Stockton (Mason)

Cymbalom:
Kenneth E. Watson

Drums:
Larry Bunker, Ralph Collier, Richard Cornell, Frank J. Flynn, Harold L. "Hal" Rees

Orchestrator:
Alexander Courage

Arranger:
Jerry (Jerrald) Goldsmith, Billy May, Arthur Morton

Copyist:
Camillo Fidelibus, Dominic John Fidelibus, Wally Heglin, Robert L. Reid, Ernest Rosecrans, Glen R. Rosecrans, Paul Sprosty

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