Maurice Jarre
Maurice Jarre (born in Lyon,
September 13,
1924) is a
French composer of film scores, noted for his use of the
Ondes Martenot. and for the scores of many films including a series of David Lean films,
Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago (1965),
Ryan's Daughter (1970) and
A Passage to India (1984). These are often considered his best work and some of the most enduring movie music in the repertory.
He has been nominated for nine Academy Awards, and has won three:
- Nominated for Best Music, Original Score for: Ghost
- Nominated for Best Music, Original Score for: Gorillas in the Mist
- Nominated for Best Music, Original Score for: Witness
- Won Oscar for Best Music, Original Score for: A Passage to India
- Nominated for Best Music, Original Score for: The Message
- Nominated for Best Music, Song for: The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean for the song "Marmalade, Molasses & Honey"
- Won for Best Music, Score - Substantially Original for: Doctor Zhivago
- Nominated for Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment for: Les Dimanches de ville d'Avray
- Won for Best Music, Score - Substantially Original for: Lawrence of Arabia
Jarre wrote for orchestras, but largely switched to synthesized music in the
1980s, largely for practical rather than esthetic motivations, many critics feel. The thunderous percussive opening and broad heroic theme of
Lawrence of Arabia and the striking cimbalom "Lara's Theme" from
Doctor Zhivago are more famous than the heartbreaking closing motif from
Ghost (1990), the woodwind theme from
Fatal Attraction, and the modal Irish tonality he wrote for
David Lean's
Ryan's Daughter as well as his Mad Max score for
Beyond Thunderdome (1985).
Now officially retired, Jarre's scored his last film in 2001, a TV movie about the Holocaust entitled Uprising.
Maurice is the father of Jean Michel Jarre. His youngest son Kevin is a screenwriter, with credits on such movies as Tombstone and Glory.
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