Yesterday we lost one of the truly great composers from the Silver Age of film scoring - Maurice Jarre has died of cancer at age 84. A casual look at his credits will describe his greatness far better than I can. Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter, A Passage To India, all for director David Lean. The Professionals, Night Of The Generals, Grand Prix, The Man Who Would Be King, Shogun, Witness, Ghost. And a couple of lesser-known but personal favorites - Tai-Pan and Lion Of The Desert
I first became aware of Jarre in the 1980’s, when he jumped on the sci-fi bandwagon, composing terrific scores for Enemy Mine, The Bride and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. He even dabbled in synthesizers for Witness and Dreamscape. And much like Elmer Bernstein with Airplane! or Miklos Rozsa with Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, he played it completely straight for Top Secret! making it all the more hilarious.
The 1990’s started with a bang when Ghost introduced him to a generation that hadn’t even been born when Lawrence Of Arabia was released - but in the following years, his music became more subdued with scores like Jacob’s Ladder, Shadow Of The Wolf, School Ties, A Walk In The Clouds and Sunshine. Epic adventures and dramas had fallen out of fashion, and to his credit he adapted to the marketplace, producing delicate and intimate work. To quote Norma Desmond, he was still big, it’s the pictures that got small. In 2001 he quietly retired, but remained in the spotlight with concerts, festivals, and multiple re-recordings of his classic work.
In a world that becomes increasingly computerized and mediocre with each passing day, it’s sad to mark the passing of someone who could conjure such emotion with paper, pen, and a conductor’s baton. The best thing I can say about Jarre is that David Lean photographed the desert in Lawrence Of Arabia, but Jarre evoked it with his brilliant music.
Eloquently put, sir.