Maurice Jarre
{{Short description|French composer and conductor (1924–2009)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Maurice Jarre
| image = Maurice-Alexis Jarre.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1924|09|13|df=yes}}
| birth_place = Lyon, France
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|03|28|1924|09|13|df=yes}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| occupation = {{hlist|Composer|conductor}}
| years_active = 1958–2001
| website =
| background = non_performing_personnel
| associated_acts = Jean-Michel Jarre
}}
Maurice-Alexis Jarre ({{IPA|fr|mɔʁis alɛksi ʒaʁ}}; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009){{cite news|title=Maurice Jarre dies at 84; composer for 'Lawrence of Arabia'|first=Dennis|last=McLellan|date=31 March 2009|access-date=31 March 2009|work=Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-maurice-jarre31-2009mar31,0,4263401.story}}{{cite news|title=Maurice Jarre, Hollywood Composer, Dies at 84|first=Bruce|last=Weber|date=31 March 2009|access-date=31 March 2009|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/arts/music/31jarre.html}}[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p1154/biography|pure_url=yes}} allmusic Biography] 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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.answers.com/topic/maurice-jarre |title=Maurice Jarre: Information and Much More from |website=Answers.com |access-date=22 July 2012}} He wrote the score for Toute la mémoire du monde by Alain Resnais.
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."{{cn|date=April 2024}}
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."{{Cite web|url=http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014669890|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525122440/http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7014669890|url-status=dead|title=Award Winning Musical Film Composer Maurice Jarre Dies From Cancer At 84|archive-date=25 May 2011|access-date=17 September 2021}}
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"{{cite news |last=McLellan |first=Dennis |date=31 March 2009 |title=Maurice Jarre dies at 84; composer for 'Lawrence of Arabia' |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-maurice-jarre31-2009mar31-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=26 December 2014 }} 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".{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=31 March 2009 |title=Maurice Jarre, Hollywood Composer, Dies at 84 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/arts/music/31jarre.html?_r=0 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=26 December 2014 }}
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.{{cite news|last1=Stuart|first1=Julia|title=Jean Michel Jarre: Smooth operator|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jean-michel-jarre-smooth-operator-557538.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jean-michel-jarre-smooth-operator-557538.html |archive-date=12 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=8 July 2016|newspaper=The Independent|date=22 August 2004}}
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.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/30/maurice.jarre.composer.obit/index.html |title=Oscar-winning movie legend Maurice Jarre dies |website=Cnn.com |date= 31 March 2009|access-date=22 July 2012}}
=Death=
Jarre died of cancer on 28 March 2009 in Los Angeles.{{cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1888336,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402125316/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1888336,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 April 2009 |title=Obituary |magazine=Time |date=30 March 2009 |access-date=22 July 2012}}
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1957
|Composed with Louis Gasté & Philippe Gérard |
| 1958
| |
| rowspan="5" |1959
| |
| Beast at Bay
| |
| Stars at Noon
| |
| Vous n'avez rien à déclarer?
| |
| Eyes Without a Face
| |
| rowspan="4" |1960
|La main chaude | |
| Lovers on a Tightrope
|Jean-Charles Dudrumet | |
| Crack in the Mirror
| |
| Recourse in Grace
| |
| rowspan="5" |1961
| |
| Spotlight on a Murderer
| |
| The Big Gamble
| |
| Three Faces of Sin
| |
| Famous Love Affairs
| |
| rowspan="8" |1962
|Les oliviers de la justice | |
| Sun in Your Eyes
|Jacques Bourdon | |
| Thérèse Desqueyroux
| |
| The Longest Day
|Ken Annakin | |
| Sundays and Cybele
| |
| L'oiseau de paradis
| |
| Lawrence of Arabia
| |
| To Die in Madrid
| |
| rowspan="2" |1963
| |
| Judex
| |
| rowspan="4" |1964
| |
| Behold a Pale Horse
| |
| The Train
| |
| Weekend at Dunkirk
| |
| rowspan="2" |1965
| |
| Doctor Zhivago
| |
| rowspan="4" |1966
| |
| Is Paris Burning?
| |
| Gambit
| |
| Grand Prix
| |
| rowspan="2" |1967
| |
| The 25th Hour
|Composed with Georges Delerue |
| rowspan="4" |1968
| |
| 5 Card Stud
| |
| The Fixer
| |
| Isadora
| |
| rowspan="3" |1969
| |
| The Damned
| |
| Topaz
| |
| rowspan="3" |1970
| |
| El Condor
| |
| Ryan's Daughter
| |
| rowspan="3" |1971
| |
| Red Sun
| |
| A Season in Hell
| |
| rowspan="3" |1972
| |
| The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
| |
| The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
| |
| rowspan="2" |1973
| |
| The Mackintosh Man
| |
| rowspan="1" |1974
|The Island at the Top of the World | |
| rowspan="4" |1975
|Composed with Muddy Waters |
| Posse
| |
| The Man Who Would Be King
| |
| Mr. Sycamore
|Pancho Kohner | |
| rowspan="3" |1976
| |
| The Last Tycoon
| |
| The Message
| |
| rowspan="2" |1977
| |
| March or Die
| |
| rowspan="2" |1978
|Like a Turtle on Its Back | |
| Two Solitudes
| |
| rowspan="3" |1979
| |
| Winter Kills
| |
| The Magician of Lublin
| |
| rowspan="4" |1980
| |
| The Black Marble
| |
| The Last Flight of Noah's Ark
| |
| Resurrection
| |
| rowspan="4" |1981
| |
| Chu Chu and the Philly Flash
|Composed with Pete Rugolo |
| Circle of Deceit
| |
| Taps
| |
| rowspan="4" |1982
| |
| Firefox
| |
| Young Doctors in Love
| |
| The Year of Living Dangerously
| |
| 1983
| |
| rowspan="3" |1984
|Jim Abrahams | |
| Dreamscape
| |
| A Passage to India
| |
| rowspan="4" |1985
| |
| Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome
|Themes by Brian May |
| The Bride
| |
| Enemy Mine
| |
| rowspan="3" |1986
| |
| The Mosquito Coast
| |
| Solarbabies
| |
| rowspan="5" |1987
| |
| No Way Out
| |
| Julia and Julia
| |
| Gaby: A True Story
| |
| Fatal Attraction
| |
| rowspan="6" |1987
| |
| Wildfire
| |
| Moon over Parador
| |
| Gorillas in the Mist
| |
| Le palanquin des larmes
|Jacques Dorfmann | |
| Cocktail
|Rejected score; Replaced by J. Peter Robinson |
| rowspan="4" |1989
| |
| Dead Poets Society
| |
| Prancer
| |
| Enemies, A Love Story
| |
| rowspan="4" |1990
| |
| Ghost
| |
| Jacob's Ladder
| |
| Almost an Angel
| |
| rowspan="2" |1991
| |
| Fires Within
| |
| rowspan="3" |1992
|Rou Tomono | |
| School Ties
| |
| Shadow of the Wolf
|Jacques Dorfmann | |
| rowspan="2" |1993
| |
| Fearless
| |
| 1994
|Rejected score; Replaced by Jerry Goldsmith |
| 1995
| |
| rowspan="2" |1996
| |
| White Squall
|Rejected score; Replaced by Jeff Rona & Hans Zimmer |
| 1997
| |
| 1999
| |
| 2000
| |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1974
|Television film |
| 1975
|Television film |
| 1977
|Miniseries |
| rowspan=3|1978
|Television film |
| The Users
|Television film |
| Mourning Becomes Electra
|Television film |
| rowspan=2|1980
|Miniseries; 5 episodes |
| |Enola Gay
|Television film |
| 1982
|Television film |
| 1984
|Television film |
| 1986
|Television film |
| 1988
|Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 2001
|Television film |
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 list: Doctor Zhivago (1965), A Passage to India (1984), and Ryan's Daughter (1970). Numerous additional awards include ASCAP's Lifetime Achievement Award in 1993.{{cite web|title=Maurice Jarre - Awards|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003574/awards|website=IMDb.com|access-date=21 September 2012}} He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003574/bio|title=Maurice Jarre|website=IMDb.com|access-date=17 September 2021}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Wikiquote}}
- {{IMDb name|3574}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060907152149/http://www.moviemusicuk.us/jarre.htm Filmography, soundtrack reviews, capsule biography]
- [http://www.legacy.com/Obituaries.asp?page=LifeStory&personId=125615554 Obituary] by the Associated Press on Legacy.com
- {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/mar/31/maurice-jarre-obituary|title=Obituary|date=31 March 2009|work=The Guardian|last=O'Connor|first=Patrick|location=London}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Maurice Jarre
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Original Score}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Original Music}}
{{European Film Academy Achievement in World Cinema Award}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score}}
{{Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media}}
{{Honorary César}}
{{Honorary Golden Bear}}
{{WSA – Lifetime Achievement}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarre, Maurice}}
Category:20th-century French composers
Category:20th-century French male musicians
Category:21st-century French composers
Category:21st-century French male musicians
Category:Barclay Records artists
Category:Best Original Music BAFTA Award winners
Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners
Category:Capitol Records artists
Category:César Honorary Award recipients
Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni
Category:Deaths from cancer in California
Category:European Film Awards winners (people)
Category:French expatriates in the United States
Category:French film score composers
Category:French male film score composers
Category:Golden Globe Award–winning musicians
Category:Honorary Golden Bear recipients
Category:University of Paris alumni