Found out a few minutes ago. Rest in peace, Maurice Jarre!

victoravalentine, March 29, 2009; 11:06 PM

I heard it on the BBC radio this morning while I was preparing breakfast and my heart sank. He
was one of the last great composers of the older generation still alive. I have always been fond
of his music and he will be sadly missed. But his music will live on for as long as there are
humans on this planet to hear it.

chris, March 30, 2009; 5:06 AM

This is sad news. I was jsut having a talk about his music just yesterday. He was definitely one of the greatest film composers ever. Rest in peace Maestro!

baalgehenna, March 30, 2009; 5:21 AM

R.I.P Maestro. I never really bothered with Maurice Jarre scores for a long time (not sure why), but once i bought my 1st one, i couldn`t wait to get as many more as i could, and will continue to do so until the collection is complete. Musiclal genius who will be sorely missed.

Anth........

anthonynputson, March 30, 2009; 6:15 AM

Undoubtly, one of the greatest film composers of all time. He will be deeply missed. Goodbye and thank you, Monsieur Jarre.

netnel, March 30, 2009; 10:23 AM

A sad day for all sountrack collectors, Lawrence of Arabia was only the 2nd LP (the first was Ben-Hur) that I bought and I really love his early works. Is Paris Burning was a recent re-issue but when will somebody do Villa Rides?

RGStovold, March 30, 2009; 1:27 PM

How incredible! It's not a month that he has been here in Berlin to receive a "Golden Bear" at
the Berlinale film festival for his life's work and looked happy and lively. Sad, sad news...

coma, March 30, 2009; 4:16 PM

What sad news of the passing of Maurice Jarre a true giant,

Thank you Maurice sleep in peace

mayford, March 30, 2009; 4:39 PM

That's terrible news indeed. Now the world of soundtracks lost yet another genius....

philkws, March 31, 2009; 10:32 AM

Maurice Jarre, composer of "Zhivago" score, dies
By James Mackenzie James Mackenzie Mon Mar 30, 7:16 am ET

PARIS (Reuters) – Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre, who wrote the rich, lyrical scores for films including "Doctor Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia," has died in Los Angeles at the age of 84.

Jarre's music won him Academy Awards for those classics and for "A Passage to India," all directed by David Lean. He also worked with directors from Alfred Hitchcock and Luchino Visconti to Peter Weir.

"Working with the world's greatest filmmakers, he showed that music is as important as visual image in the success of a film," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement paying tribute to Jarre, who died at the weekend.

"The works to which he contributed so masterfully are part of cinema history forever," he said.

Throughout the morning, French radio played extracts from "Lara's Theme," the recurring motif from Doctor Zhivago that became an easy listening classic, as well as the dramatic score to "Lawrence of Arabia."

Jarre, who had lived in Los Angeles for many years, was one of the most successful and industrious film composers of his time with more than 150 credits to his name.

After making a start working on French films in the 1950s, he made his international breakthrough with the score to the 1962 Lean epic "Lawrence of Arabia.";

His work spanned five decades and his richly orchestrated scores contributed to films from "Ryan's Daughter," "The Tin Drum" and "The Year of Living Dangerously" to "Mad Max III" "Fatal Attraction" and "Witness."

Jarre maintained that music should be a central part of any film. "If it's just there to underline a piece of action or a love scene, it's really not interesting. It's like putting too much sugar in a cake," he said.

His final award came as recently as last month when he won a special prize from the Berlin Film Festival.

"Film composers often are in the shadows of great directors and acting stars," said festival director Dieter Kosslick when he announced the award.

"It's different with Maurice Jarre; the music of Doctor Zhivago, like much of his work, is world famous and remains unforgotten in the history of cinema," he said.

Maurice Jarre was the father of electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre.

(Additional reporting by Mike Collett-White in London, editing by Mark Trevelyan)

kriegerg69, April 1, 2009; 8:09 AM