Maurice Jarre - Lawrence of Arabia

Maurice-Alexis Jarre (13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009) was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, he is best known for his film scores, and is particularly known for his collaborations with film director David Lean. Jarre composed the scores to all of Lean's films since Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Other notable scores of his include The Message (1976), Witness (1985) and Ghost (1990).

Jarre was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.Three of his compositions spent a total of forty-two weeks on the U.K. singles chart chart; the biggest hit was 'Somewhere My Love' (to his tune Lara's Theme, with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster) by the Michael Sammes Singers, which reached number fourteen in 1966 and spent thirty-eight weeks on the chart.

Jarre was a three time Academy Award winner, for Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Doctor Zhivago (1965), and A Passage to India (1984), all of which were directed by David Lean. He was Oscar nominated a total of eight times. His son is the electronic composer Jean Michel Jarre.

Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential films in the history of cinema. The film depicts Lawrence's experiences in Arabia during World War I, in particular his attacks on Aqaba and Damascus and his involvement in the Arab National Council.

Maurice Jarre, little known at the time, was selected only after both William Walton and Malcolm Arnold had proved unavailable. Jarre was given just six weeks to compose two hours of orchestral music for Lawrence. The score was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Although Sir Adrian Boult is credited as the conductor of the score in the film's credits, he was unable to conduct most of the score, due in part to his failure to adapt to the intricate timings of each cue, and Jarre replaced him as the conductor. The score went on to garner Jarre his first Academy Award for Music Score-Substantially Original and is now considered one of the greatest scores of all time, ranking number three on the American Film Institute's top twenty-five American film scores.

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