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Just some tidbits to go alongside all of the facts, rumors and guesses as to what's what between the two versions of MASADA.
Though it's been mentioned that Jerry used a "larger" orchestra for his re-recording, actually the number of players on both the actual soundtrack recorded at Universal Studios and the re-recording done in London are actually comparable. Another point of interest is that the original album, which I certainly love, and though recorded at Abbey Road, had a somewhat shrill sound that was amplified during the LP mastering sessions, and further plagued (in my opinion) by an excess of reverb. In particular, the final album track ("The Slaves") becomes almost unbearable in the climactic fortissimo. Subsequent mastering for the Varese CD seemed to make these anomalies even more prominent.
The licensors for each respective version is entirely different, though the Universal connection may confuse people. Universal Music Group owns the re-recording (not Varese) and NBC Universal owns the soundtrack. Yes - we could have made a separate deal with UMG to include the album re-recording, but it would have added another year to the negotiations and would have required a totally separate licensing agreement, adding another $15-20 to the retail price. The final product would be selling upwards of $50 a set. That - added with the fact that most of our target customers would already have the re-recording - in my opinion made a three-disc set impractical and perhaps even un-necessary.
Besides the obvious differences in length (37 minute re-recording vs. two and a half hour original), and our inclusion of Morton Stevens' magnificent portion, I find the original soundtrack appealing in comparison because it offers several action cues, all of which were deleted during Jerry's London re-recording sessions. On a project as big and as exciting as MASADA, I want to hear this guy going gangbusters with those ferocious action cues only he could write. For me, "The Granary" is up there with "Raisuli Attacks" from THE WIND AND THE LION. What a rush! For me, this is a pretty big plus that you can now enjoy only with the actual soundtrack.
As Jon Burlingame's notes explain, Jerry actually wrote his fanfares, the mime sequence and the Roman march while doing "pre-records" during filming on location in Israel, then recorded them back at Universal as well. The march is particularly cool because he scored it for trumpets, French horns, woodwinds and percussion only, and the main melody in it ultimately became one of his two primary themes for the entire score. It was especially interesting to mix because almost every instrument had its own track on the 2" masters. "The Mime" is a particularly attractive piece Jerry wrote (and orchestrated himself) for woodwinds, two horns, harp, antique cymbals, chimes and a few other percussion instruments that brings some unique color to the score. And none of this nifty stuff was included on the LP either.
But the BIGGEST difference between the two versions, length and Morton Stevens notwithstanding, is quite simply the performance: Yes, the London sessions are world class BUT the trombones and tuba throughout this score are crisper and more pronounced with the Universal Studio orchestra. Low brass is essential to this score.
One last teeny weenie curio: at the end of "Road To Masada" on the re-recording ("Move On" on Jerry's manuscripts), the brief trumpet solo plays open, but in the actual soundtrack performance it's played with a straight mute. I always thought it was because the player in London forgot to use a mute, but that's just a totally random thought with no basis in fact. Us trumpet players just notice these things.
Unlike many of Jerry's re-recordings, with MASADA he essentially worked with his actual scores and did little adaptation for re-recording the nine cues he selected. So you can actually play those same nine cues pretty much intact on our soundtrack version and re-create the LP experience... happily with crisper low brass performances! Most of you will enjoy being able to own both versions. But if you can only have one version... well, you know which one I'd vote for.
--Doug
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