Oscar-winning composer dies
02/04/2009
Maurice Jarre, famous for his soundtracks to David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965) and A Passage to India (1984), has died aged 84.
Born in Lyon, France in 1924, Jarre initially studied engineering at the Sorbonne but left and enrolled at the Conservatoire de Paris to study composition and harmony. It was there that he chose percussion as his major instrument, a decision that proved to be significant in his film scores. Among his teachers were Arthur Honegger and Maurice Martenot, who invented the ondes Martenot, which Jarre used in many of his scores, including Fatal Attraction (1987) and Ghost (1990).
Following his studies, Jarre began to compose for the concert hall where he was spotted by actor-director Jean Vilar and invited to write a score for his production of Heinrich von Kleist’s The Prince of Homburg. The success of this led to his first film score, the documentary Hôtel des Invalides by Georges Franju.
Jarre went on to compose for more than 150 films and, in addition to his three Oscars, he won four Golden Globes, two Baftas and a Grammy, as well as a lifetime achievement award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Jarre maintained that music should complement a film rather than dominating it. Yet it proved to be the central theme of his own life. ‘One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack,’ he said. ‘Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear.’
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