Maurice Jarre RIP

Maurice Jarre died day before yesterday. That night the Wee One and I started watching Lawrence of Arabia. (Gosh, that's a fantastic movie.) Jarre's score is such an epic part of the movie it's almost comical in the same way that Steiner's Gone with the Wind is to modern ears. Maybe Star Wars will be like that some day. Maybe it already is.

Jarre was my first film composer. Dad had the LP of Grand Prix. It opens with the orchestra making race car noises. How can a two year-old not love that? But it also has the main theme. A few years later I saw Disney's Island at the Top the World. The theme for the airship Hyperion is total Jarre. It was the first time I ever recognized that sound that Jarre has. Firefox has that same kind of feel, so does Enemy Mine. (I'm sure someone who actually knows composition theory or whatever would say "Oh,
well that's just this this and that." Then I could find all the music
like that that I wanted.)

He's gone now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Jarre Aged 84.