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Maurice Jarre
Background information
Born	(1924-09-13)13 September 1924 Lyon, France
Died	28 March 2009(2009-03-28) (aged 84) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Composer, conductor
Years active	1958–2001

Maurice-Alexis Jarre (French pronunciation: [mɔʁis alɛksi ʒaʁ]; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009) was a French composer and conductor. Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations with film director David Lean composing all of his films from 1962 to 1984. Jarre received numerous accolades including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, four Golden Globes, and a Grammy Award.

Jarre won three Academy Awards for Best Original Score for the David Lean films Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984). He was Oscar-nominated for Sundays and Cybèle (1962), The Message (1976), Witness (1985), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), and Ghost (1990). Notable scores also include Eyes Without a Face (1959), The Longest Day (1962), The Train (1964), The Collector (1965), Grand Prix (1966), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Fatal Attraction (1987), and Dead Poets Society (1989). He worked with such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Elia Kazan, John Huston, Luchino Visconti, John Frankenheimer, and Peter Weir.

Three of his compositions spent a total of 42 weeks on the UK singles chart; the biggest hit was "Somewhere My Love" (to his tune "Lara's Theme", with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster) performed by the Mike Sammes Singers, which reached Number 14 in 1966 and spent 38 weeks on the chart. He was the father of musician Jean-Michel Jarre and the adoptive father of screenwriter Kevin Jarre.

Early life

Jarre was born in Lyon, the son of Gabrielle Renée (née Boullu) and André Jarre, a radio technical director. He first enrolled in the engineering school at the Sorbonne, but decided to pursue music courses instead. He left the Sorbonne against his father's will and enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris to study composition and harmony and chose percussion as his major instrument. He became director of the Théâtre National Populaire and recorded his first film score in France in 1951.

Film scoring

In 1961, Jarre's music career experienced a major change when American film producer Sam Spiegel asked him to write the score for the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean. The acclaimed score won Jarre his first Academy Award and he would go on to compose the scores to all of Lean's subsequent films. He followed with The Train (1964) and Grand Prix (1966), both for director John Frankenheimer, and in between had another great success in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago, which included the lyricless tune "Lara's Theme" (later the tune for the song "Somewhere My Love"), and which earned him his second Oscar. He worked with Alfred Hitchcock on Topaz (1969): although Hitchcock's experiences with the film were unhappy, he was satisfied with Jarre's score, telling him, "I have not given you a great film, but you have given me a great score."

Jarre's score for David Lean's Ryan's Daughter (1970), set in Ireland, completely eschews traditional Irish music styles, according to Lean's preferences. The song "It Was a Good Time," from Ryan's Daughter went on to be recorded by musical stars such as Liza Minnelli who used it in her critically acclaimed television special Liza with a Z as well as by others during the 1970s. He contributed the music for Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969), and John Huston's The Man Who Would Be King (1975).

He was again nominated for an Academy Award for scoring The Message in 1976, for the director and producer Moustapha Akkad. He followed with Witness (1985) and Dead Poets Society (1989), for which he won a British Academy Award.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Jarre turned his hand to science fiction, with scores for The Island at the Top of the World (1974), Dreamscape (1984), Enemy Mine (1985), and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). The latter is written for full orchestra, augmented by a chorus, four grand pianos, a pipe organ, digeridoo, fujara, a battery of exotic percussion, and three ondes Martenot, which feature in several of Jarre's other scores, including Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth, The Bride and Prancer. The balalaika features prominently in Jarre's score for Doctor Zhivago.

In 1990, Jarre was again nominated for an Academy Award scoring the supernatural love story/thriller Ghost. His music for the final scene of the film is based on "Unchained Melody" composed by fellow film composer Alex North. Other films for which he provided the music include A Walk in the Clouds (1995), for which he wrote the score and all of the songs, including the romantic "Mariachi Serenade". Also to his credit is the passionate love theme from Fatal Attraction (1987), and the moody electronic soundscapes of After Dark, My Sweet (1990). He was well respected by other composers including John Williams, who stated, on Jarre's death, "(He) is to be well remembered for his lasting contribution to film music ... we all have been enriched by his legacy."

Jarre's television work includes the theme for the short-lived 1967 Western series on CBS, Cimarron Strip, his score for the miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977), directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Shōgun (1980), and the theme for PBS's Great Performances.

Jarre scored his last project in 2001, a television mini-series about the Holocaust titled Uprising.

He was "one of the giants of 20th-century film music" who was "among the most sought-after composers in the movie industry" and "a creator of both subtle underscoring and grand, sweeping themes, not only writing for conventional orchestras ... but also experimenting with electronic sounds later in his career".

Style and artistry

Jarre wrote mainly for orchestras, but began to favour synthesized music in the 1980s. Jarre pointed out that his electronic score for Witness was actually more laborious, time-consuming and expensive to produce than an orchestral score. Jarre's electronic scores from the 1980s also include Fatal Attraction, The Year of Living Dangerously, Firefox and No Way Out. A number of his scores from that era also feature electronic / acoustic blends, such as Gorillas in the Mist, Dead Poets Society, The Mosquito Coast and Jacob's Ladder.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Jarre was married four times, the first three marriages ending in divorce. In the 1940s, his marriage to Francette Pejot, a French Resistance member and concentration camp survivor, produced a son, Jean-Michel Jarre, a French composer, performer, and music producer, who is one of the pioneers in electronic music. When Jean-Michel was five years old, Maurice split up with his wife and moved to the United States, leaving Jean-Michel with his mother in France.

In 1965, Jarre married French actress Dany Saval; together they had a daughter, Stephanie Jarre. He next married American actress Laura Devon (1967–1984), resulting in his adopting her son, Kevin Jarre, a screenwriter, with credits on such films as Tombstone and Glory (1989). From 1984 to his death, he was married to Fong F. Khong.

Death

Jarre died of cancer on 28 March 2009 in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Jarre received three Academy Awards and received a total of nine nominations, eight for Best Original Score and one for Best Original Song. He also won four Golden Globes and was nominated for ten. The American Film Institute ranked Jarre's score for Lawrence of Arabia #3 on their list of the greatest film scores. His scores for the following films were also nominated for the lis: Doctor Zhivago (1965), A Passage to India (1984), and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Numerous additional awards include ASCAP's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

References

1. McLellan, Dennis (31 March 2009). "Maurice Jarre dies at 84; composer for 'Lawrence of Arabia'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
2. Weber, Bruce (31 March 2009). "Maurice Jarre, Hollywood Composer, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
3. ^ allmusic Biography
4. "Maurice Jarre: Information and Much More from". Answers.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
5. "Award Winning Musical Film Composer Maurice Jarre Dies From Cancer At 84". Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
6. McLellan, Dennis (31 March 2009). "Maurice Jarre dies at 84; composer for 'Lawrence of Arabia'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
7. Weber, Bruce (31 March 2009). "Maurice Jarre, Hollywood Composer, Dies at 84". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
8. Stuart, Julia (22 August 2004). "Jean Michel Jarre: Smooth operator". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2016.
9. "Oscar-winning movie legend Maurice Jarre dies". Cnn.com. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
10. Corliss, Richard (30 March 2009). "Obituary". Time.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
11. "Maurice Jarre - Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
12. "Maurice Jarre". IMDb.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
13. "35th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
14. "36th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
15. "38th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 4 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
16. "45th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
17. "49th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
18. "57th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
19. "58th Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 4 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
20. "61st Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 5 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
21. "63rd Academy Awards". Oscars.org. 4 October 2014. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
22. "39th BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
23. "43rd BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
24. ^ "Maurice Jarre - Golden Globes". Golden Globe Awards. Retrieved May 25, 2024.

External links

• Maurice Jarre at IMDb
• Filmography, soundtrack reviews, capsule biography
• Obituary by the Associated Press on Legacy.com
• O'Connor, Patrick (31 March 2009). "Obituary". The Guardian. London.

• 1924 births
• 2009 deaths
• 20th-century French composers
• 20th-century French male musicians
• 21st-century French composers
• 21st-century French male musicians
• Barclay Records artists
• Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners
• Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
• Capitol Records artists
• César Honorary Award recipients
• Conservatoire de Paris alumni
• Deaths from cancer in California
• European Film Awards winners (people)
• French expatriates in the United States
• French film score composers
• French male film score composers
• Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
• Grammy Award winners
• Honorary Golden Bear recipients
• MCA Records artists
• MGM Records artists
• Musicians from Lyon
• Ondists
• University of Paris alumni
• Varèse Sarabande Records artists
• Warner Records artists
• Jarre family