Born in Lyon, Maurice Jarre studied electronic technique there and at the Sorbonne before studying percussion at the Paris Conservatoire, where he also took composition lessons with Honegger. He provided music for the theatre ensemble under Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud and spent some 12 years, from 1950, as musical director of the Théâtre National Populaire in Paris. He went on to make a considerable reputation as a composer for the cinema.

Film Music

Jarre wrote his first film music for documentaries by Georges Franju. His wider international fame was the result of a number of collaborations with the director David Lean, producing such scores as Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter and A Passage to India. He went on to explore further the possibilities of electronic music, often in combination with more conventional instruments, as in his score for Peter Weir’s film about an American Amish community, Witness. His work for the cinema won Academy awards and nominations.