Maurice Jarre
When you think about movie music, is it the sounds of Maurice Jarre you hear? Is there anyone in the world now who doesn’t equate the sound of the balalaika with romance? Jarre has been one of the dominant film composers for the last fifty years. He studied engineering at the Sorbonne before attending the Paris Conservatoire for composition and percussion. His first job was as the music director for the Théâtre National Populaire. In 1951, Jarre wrote the music for a short film, Hôtel des Invalides. Soon, he was working on full-length films. The major change in his career, and life, was composing for David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 - not only did this work earn Jarre his first Oscar for best original score, but it also cemented one of the most creative relationships in film. Their next film, Doctor Zhivago (1965), brought Jarre his second Oscar, along with a Grammy, and hearing his balalaika music turned into the Ray Conniff pop hit with the recording of Lara’s Theme under the title, “Somewhere, My Love.” Lean and Jarre also worked together on Ryan’s Daughter (1970), the soundtrack of which was was one of the best selling records of that year, and A Passage to India (1984), for Jarre’s third Oscar. Jarre has also composed the music for multiple other films, including John Frankenheimer’s Grand Prix (1966), which was also a best selling record of the year, Alfred Hitchcock’s Topaz (1969), John Huston’s The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Peter Weir’s The Year of Living Dangerously (1983) and Witness (1985), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (another top 40 soundtrack), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Jerry Zucker’s Top Secret (1984), Dead Poets Society (1989), Ghost (1990), and I Dreamed of Africa (2000). The next time you take a look at these films, be sure to listen.
