Maurice Jarre - The Essential Maurice Jarre Film Collection (26 tracks) +Album Reviews

Not the original recordings, but a decent collection

07/20/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"When are we going to get a collection of the original versions of Maurice Jarre's scores?If you want an introduction to Mr. Jarre's work this is a decent overview. Lawrence Of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago are truly movie score milestones. And these renditions are faithful enough to the originals that most casual movie fans will enjoy them.If you want to save a few bucks and get all the hits then pick this up. However, if you are a true fan of Maurice Jarre I would stick with the original soundtracks and avoid this collection."

Maurice Jarre at his best

Liz F | Pennsylvania | 01/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Maurice Jarre is now, and always has been, one of the best composers that films has ever known. Like Bernard Hermann and Miklos Rozsa before him, and Jerry Goldsmith and Georges Delerue his contemporaries, Jarre's music is identifiable long before his name appears in the credits. It stands on its own merits, and yet, when heard while watching the film images it underpins, Jarre's scoring seldom overpowers. Of course, he had the great good fortune to be singled out by David Lean, a filmmaker whose remarkable images were almost impossible to overwhelm with music or any other distraction.This collection gives the listener a unique opportunity to experience the forty plus year evolution of Jarre's work, from his early hallmark use of percussion and quirky waltz themes in Lean's landmark films, to his later use of synthesizer minimalism in Witness and The Year of Living Dangerously. The music is lush and sensual, and replete with some of the best loved film themes from the last half of the 20th century. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys sound track scoring at its very best."

...Decent collection from a legendary composer

David | Spruce Grove, AB Canada | 07/09/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Finally, a decent collection of film scores by the legendary composer Maurice Jarre that doesn't spend all it's time focusing on the great David Lean films...although where would Jarre be without Lawrence Of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago, added to his resume. Without having to go out and buy the complete Lean/Jarre scores "The Essential Collection" does a fairly good job of representing them both. But if you are a true fan, I would pass over this collection because none of the recordings are original. Lawrence Of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, A Passage To India and Ryan's Daughter combined for 40 minutes of music. Even though the Lean scores are the pinnacle of his career, every other score on "Essentials" isn't exactly lightweight.Maurice Jarre has had a long collaborating partnership with Peter Weir that out number Lean but the scores are nowhere near the scope of a Lawrence Of Arabia or Doctor Zhivago. It's just that Peter Weir encouraged Jarre to nod towards scoring with synthesizers rather than a full orchestra. Allie's Theme from The Mosquito Coast, Kwan's Sacrifice from The Year Of Living Dangerously and Building The Barn from Witness are by all means worth having on the collection. Building The Barn was scored for a small synthesizer ensemble in being faithful to the Amish religion, which believed that any acoustic instrument had a connection with the devil, the Amish only prayed through singing.Everything else on the collection is a mixed bag of genres that give you a pretty good insight into Maurice Jarre's film history. My personal favorites other than any Lean or Weir are The Tin Drum, Enemy Mine and The Man Who Would Be King."

All of Silva's Jarre in one place, but nothing new here.

tjguitar | 04/21/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"There was not a single newly recorded track for this compilation, but its hard to argue that there's anything major missing from this.

The two Lawrence of Arabia tracks are taken from one of Silva Screen's biggest-selling CD to date, Tony Bremner's recording of the score with the Philharmonia Orchestra. This is a good representation of the score with the famous overture as well as a 13 minute suite comprising of the following cues: "Main Title", "First Entrance into the Desert", "Night and Stars" "Lawrence and Tafas" and the "End Titles"; meaning the first 4 tracks and the final track of that excellent recording are included on this set.

The remaining tracks of this set was recorded in Prague from 1993 through 1998(or in England on keyboards by Silva's then in-house keyboardist, Mark Ayres).

The Mosquito Coast and both versions of Witness appeared on the 1994 compilation "Music from the Films of Harrison Ford". Topaz was on one of Silva's early Alfred Hitchcock compilations, released in 1993. Is Paris Burning? first appeared on the 1994 release "Longest Day: Classic War Films"

Many of the tracks first appeared on Silva's 1995 Maurice Jarre compilation, "Doctor Zhivago: The Classic Film Music of Maurice Jarre".

Among them are tracks from Jarre's second most popular film: Christopher Palmer's extensive Doctor Zhivago concert suite (Main Title/Lara's Theme/Revolution/At The Student Cafe/Arrival at Varykino/Sventytski's Waltz/Main Title and Lara's Theme). Although this suite was originally scored for orchestra, Silva has thoughtfully augmented the suite with a cimbalom and accordion.

Other tracks from that 1995 release include A Passage to India, Jesus of Nazareth, Ghost, The Man Who Would Be King, The Fixer, El Condor, Ryan's Daughter, The Night Of The Generals, Fatal Attraction and Villa Rides.

Red Sun first appeared in an extensive eleven minute suite on 1996's "Lonesome Dove: Classic Western Film Scores Vol 2". That suite has been shortened to a seven minute suite here comprising of "Main Title" and "The Samurai"

Max Max: Beyond The Thunderdome is from 1997's excellent compilation The Cult Files, with Enemy Mine being from 1997's equally-excellent "Space and Beyond", while The Professionals is from 1998's "Silva Treasury: Hollywood Tough Guys". No Way Out and the Year of Living Dangerously are both from 1997's Hollywood Stats series, with the former being from The Kevin Costner disc and the latter from the Mel Gibson disc.

The Tin Drum is from 1999's "Arthouse Cafe Volume Three", a collection of European film music.

Silva has since recorded music from Sunshine (included on Cinema Choral Classics III), but that was after this set was release in 2000.

All in all this is a good collection considering it has everything from Jarre that they recorded up this point as well as the best parts of the Lawrence score, though I wonder why they decided to cut four minutes out of the Red Sun suite.

Recommended if you don't have the other discs, if you do have the other ones, perhaps consdiering selling those and picking up these as they have been remasted with HDCD surround sound."

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