# Maurice Jarre



## Guest

This wonderful film composer wrote many stunning scores. "Lawrence of Arabia", "Dr. Zhivago", "Passage to India" - just to name three. However, some of his scores were excessively noisy at times, like in this one from 1964's "The Train"; a John Frankenheimer film. This one is very evocative of the plot and subject matter; the French resistance trying to save a train loaded with priceless art works from the Nazis at the end of the war. I highly recommend this stunning film which is artfully directed by (action-man) Frankenheimer, with not a wasted moment of dialogue or action. It's taut, tense and magnificently edited; the heaving and sighing of the stationary train in the final sequence between Scofield and Lancaster is absolutely inspired. Each line from Schofield is punctuated by the noises from the train. And the final montage; what can I say??






One incredible teaser from "The Train". Quite a considerable logistical effort would have gone into this sequence:






If anybody has ever wondered why editing a film is an esoteric, specialized art try watching "The Train". It's the compendium of film editing.


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## Prodromides

Maurice Jarre's film music can be rather polarizing amongst soundtrack enthusiasts themselves (observable at sites such as Film Score Monthly), so I doubt Jarre will receive appreciation from within TC's membership. Seems as though some folks outright despise MJ overall (i.e. Page Cook) whilst those who _are_ sympathetic towards his music still may not position Jarre on Top 10 lists.

I'm in the middle: I neither dislike Jarre's works nor do I consider Maurice as a favo(u)rite.

My Top 5 Jarre soundtracks include *The Train* as well as *The Collector*, with the others being from his early French-language cinema. To his credit, Jarre survived during the 1980s' synthesizer trends (invasion?) and scored some mid-'80s _genre_ hits ... of which *Enemy Mine* I like most. As with Leonard Rosenman and Ennio Morricone, Jarre's Hollywood assignments decreased throughout the 1990s; MJ was out of fashion by Y2K and no new works were issued by him between 2001 and his death in 2009.

One of the poorest-selling CDs produced by FSM is their album on Maurice Jarre's archival concert works:










I think this is the facet of Jarre that should be brought to attention here @ TC:

-) Three Dances for Ondes Martenot and Drums

-) Passacaglia to the Memory of Arthur Honegger

-) The Night Watch

-) Mobiles for Violin and Orchestra

-) Ancient Suite for Percussion Instruments and Piano

_The Night Watch_ resembles film music whilst the _Mobiles_ can align alongside contemporary 'classical' modernism.


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## Guest

I don't know that list of works you mention and, yes, Jarre has divided opinion. As I said in my post, his scores often provide a lot of noise in some of the films. But I really like some of them as I find them very original and not the bland 'muzak' which has become characteristic of lot of modern film music. Jarre's aesthetic was best suited to the epic or action films like "The Train", IMO. His score for "Witness" (a film I taught for matriculation English) was extremely unappealing - but the film itself was rather dull too.

Maurice Jarre may well have fallen out of fashion by the turn of the century, but his incredible output was more than enough for any mortal!!


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## Forster

I like a number of the films he scored; I don't remember any of the scores annoying me, so I guess they were successful.


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## Prodromides

True, some composers excel with certain material. In my own listening experience, however, I consider all _genre_s written for during any given composer's early, middle & late periods; I can say that Jarre was more idiosyncratic in his early works & that historical/literary epics were not the only _genre_s yielding fine results.

For whatever it's worth, my Jarre favorites are below:

1. *La tête contre les murs* (1959)
2. *The Train* 
3. *Judex* (1963)
4. *The Collector* (1965)
5. *Toute la mémoire du monde* 1956 documentary short
6. *Pope Joan*
7. *Island at the Top of the World*
8. *Shōgun*
9. *Enemy Mine*
10. *Shadow of the Wolf*


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## Guest

Prodromides said:


> True, some composers excel with certain material. In my own listening experience, however, I consider all _genre_s written for during any given composer's early, middle & late periods; I can say that Jarre was more idiosyncratic in his early works & that historical/literary epics were not the only _genre_s yielding fine results.
> 
> For whatever it's worth, my Jarre favorites are below:
> 
> 1. *La tête contre les murs* (1959)
> 2. *The Train*
> 3. *Judex* (1963)
> 4. *The Collector* (1965)
> 5. *Toute la mémoire du monde* 1956 documentary short
> 6. *Pope Joan*
> 7. *Island at the Top of the World*
> 8. *Shōgun*
> 9. *Enemy Mine*
> 10. *Shadow of the Wolf*


I don't know most of those films at all. "The Collector" - not one of my faves. Terence Stamp is one-dimensional, AFAIK.


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## Forster

Looking over his list of movies, I'm struck by how many I know I've seen, but how few I remember much about...not just the music, but the whole movie. That means there's only a handful about which I can recall anything re the music; _Zhivago, Lawrence, Witness_...Great movies with memorable soundtracks.

_The Collector _was excellent, I thought, when I saw it, aged 14 or 15, but I remember nothing about the score at all. The same goes for _Ghost, Fatal Attraction, Gorillas in the Mist, Enemy Mine_...

As for movies that I didn't really enjoy, the music would have been among the least of my gripes. Then there's oddities like _Ryan's Daughter_, difficult to like but with some memorable musical moments.

There are more movies in the 2nd and 3rd groups than in the first, and I can recall seeing roughly 30 of his movies. Memory plays tricks, especially when I'm recalling what I saw on TV in my teens as opposed to seeing at the cinema.

Does any of this make Jarre a good or bad composer? Neither, I think. It shows that Jarre, like other composers (whether as well-known or not) makes one contribution among many, and the resulting chemistry is beyond their control. Their score may fit, or it may not, but what they're aiming at is not a static target.


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## geralmar

I admit Jarre does not strike me as having a particularly strong profile in movie scoring;* but I do enjoy:

Is Paris Burning?
Villa Rides

*As opposed to Morricone who may have had too strong a profile.


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## Xenophiliu

I looked at the list of the last 10 or so films I have seen with a score from Maurice Jarre over the past decade. Most of these are infamous for other reasons than the music, but there are a few here I fondly remember the score in particular. 

On the other hand, I remember not responding positively to his electronic score of _Witness_ though.

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
The Man Who Would Be King
Taps
Firefox
Dreamscape
Top Secret!
Witness
Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome
Enemy Mine
The Mosquito Coast
Moon Over Parador
Dead Poets Society
Prancer


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## MJSymphonist

Maurice Jarre early at his career was a timpanist and performed within leading Paris orchestras under the batons of conductors such as Pierre Monteux, Furtwangler and Charles Munch. From 1946 to 1950, with Pierre Boulez, he performed the stage music for the "Jean-Louis Barrault Madeleine Renaud Theater Company". Before he became famous for his score for Lawrence of Arabia(1962) he had composed many concert works. Maurice Jarre was very proud for his work for Roland Petit’s 1965 avant-garde ballet _Notre Dame de Paris_ which continues until today to be performed all around the world and in places such as in Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala and Bolshoi Theatre.








Maurice Jarre - Concerto for EVI – 1997:





Le Premier Jour du Printemps (The First Day of Spring) by Maurice Jarre for percussion sextet, for the «Percussionisti della Scala» of Milan:




Ancient Suite, Maurice Jarre:





He was well respected not only by fellow film composers such as John Williams but also by composers such as Pierre Boulez and Henri Dutilleux.


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## Rogerx

MJSymphonist said:


> Maurice Jarre early at his career was a timpanist and performed within leading Paris orchestras under the batons of conductors such as Pierre Monteux, Furtwangler and Charles Munch. From 1946 to 1950, with Pierre Boulez, he performed the stage music for the "Jean-Louis Barrault Madeleine Renaud Theater Company". Before he became famous for his score for Lawrence of Arabia(1962) he had composed many concert works. Maurice Jarre was very proud for his work for Roland Petit’s 1965 avant-garde ballet _Notre Dame de Paris_ which continues until today to be performed all around the world and in places such as in Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala and Bolshoi Theatre.
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> Maurice Jarre - Concerto for EVI – 1997:
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> Le Premier Jour du Printemps (The First Day of Spring) by Maurice Jarre for percussion sextet, for the «Percussionisti della Scala» of Milan:
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> Ancient Suite, Maurice Jarre:
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> He was well respected not only by fellow film composers such as John Williams but also by composers such as Pierre Boulez and Henri Dutilleux.


Thanks you for your great information, welcome to the site by the way.


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## MJSymphonist

His last classical work:






and John Williams conducting Lawrence of Arabia Overture:






Mobiles for Violin and Orchestra:


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## MJSymphonist




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## MJSymphonist




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## MJSymphonist

A great score by Maurice Jarre:


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## MJSymphonist




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## MJSymphonist




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