Patton / Tora! Tora! Tora!


Colosseum (4005939579623)
Varèse Sarabande (0030206579628)
Movie | Release date: 07/29/1997 | Format: CD, Download
 

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# Track   Duration
Patton
1.Main Title2:24
2.The Battle Ground2:29
3.The Cemetary2:50
4.The First Battle3:03
5.The Funeral1:52
6.The Hospital3:17
7.No Assignment2:04
8.German March2:03
9.Entr'acte2:15
10.Attack3:29
11.German Advance2:38
12.An Eloquent Man1:50
13.The Pay-Off2:24
14.End Title1:14
 
Tora! Tora! Tora!
15.Main Title3:15
16.Pre-Flight2:11
17.On the Way1:43
18.Imperial Palace2:23
19.End Title2:05
 45:28
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Patton / Tora! Tora! Tora! - 09/10 - Review of Tom Daish, submitted at (English)
This splendid disc features two superlative Goldsmith scores. They are re-recordings made by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, conducted by the composer. Patton presents the entire 34 minutes of original score that Goldsmith wrote for the film and since the film is over 3 hours long shows how sparse the composing was. The music starts with the Main title which introduces the three main elements of Patton's existence. The first is an echoing trumpet figure that represents his belief in reincarnation. The effect was accomplished with an Echoplex on the original, but was achieved acoustically for this recording. It has been commented that the figure seems too distant on this recording, but I think they stand out just fine. The echoing trumpet is a much copied idea and appeared in several works by James Horner, most notably in Aliens. The quiet hymnal theme first appears under the trumpets in the main title and represents Patton's religious and spiritual beliefs. The third is a rousing march that brilliantly captures the military aspect of Patton's life. The echoing trumpets appear in most of the tracks and are a perfect compliment to either the subdued first half or the more exciting second half.

Apart from the Main Title, the first half is generally quiet. Despite track titles such as The First Battle, the music is very subdued indeed. It is also very eerie and despite the reincarnation association of the echoing trumpets, the technique for me brings to mind a silent battle field after a vicious battle has been fort and the creepy silence that would come down over the area. I suppose it musically represents the spirits of the dead and dying soldiers and hence leading to the reincarnation beliefs of Patton. The German March, while just as rousing as the Patton march, is really quite sombre in tone. The Entr'acte is a short concert version of the main theme. I don't quite see how it would fit into the film, unless there was an interval, but whatever the reasoning, it's a good excuse for a great centrepiece cue. The ending of the arrangement is particularly splendid as it winds up loudly, but once the final chords have been struck, the echoing trumpets appear from fray to exhilarating effect. The second half is much more rousing action cues that interplay the Patton themes as well as the German March, culminating in a spiritual finale that is quite splendid. This is a score that no Goldsmith fan should be without as it is a benchmark score and one of his finest, albeit one of his shortest.

Tora! Tora! Tora! comprises of just an 11 minute suite and while being generally more exciting than Patton doesn't quite pull it off the same way Patton does. However, as this is the only available recording of the music, we should be grateful for its inclusion. Despite being so short, the music represents the majority of the original score. Many Far Eastern instruments are included and give the music a correct ethnic feel as well as being proud and bold. There are no great themes as there are for Patton, but the music still leaves its mark. There is tense rhythmic music in Pre-Flight, followed by exciting and soaring music for On the Way. Imperial Palace is the most subdued track and contains a large slew of ethnic instrumentation. Overall, this is the lesser of the two scores, but that is truly a relative measure and the CD is certainly worth the price alone for the music to Patton, if only Goldsmith had written just a little more for that!


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