Maurice Jarre (1924-2009)

Biography

Maurice Jarre was born in Lyon, France, on 23 September 1924 and died in 2009 in California. He studied percussion and music theory at the Paris Conservatory. From 1946 to 1950, with Pierre Boulez, he performed the stage music for the "Jean-Louis Barrault Madeleine Renaud Theater Company".

In 1951 he was appointed music director of the Théâtre National Populaire of France, which was headed by stage director and founder of the Avignon Festival Jean Vilar. Until 1961 - in addition to his activities at the TNP - he wrote about twenty film scores, including "Cybèle ou les dimanches de Ville d’Avray" (1961), which inspired British film maker David Lean (1908-1991) to ask him to write the music for the film "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962).

Their collaboration continued with "Dr Zhivago" (1965) and other films by Lean. Maurice Jarre moved to Los Angeles, where top film directors fought over him. His some 200 film scores have earned him world renown.