Doctor Zhivago (soundtrack)

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Doctor Zhivago: The Original Sound Track Album
Cover of the original 1965 LP release
Soundtrack album by
Maurice Jarre
Released1965
Length34:07
LabelMGM Records

Doctor Zhivago: The Original Sound Track Album is the soundtrack album composed by Maurice Jarre for the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago. The soundtrack garnered critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Music Score—Substantially Original and the Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show.

Background[edit]

Composer Maurice Jarre had previously worked with director David Lean, scoring Lean's 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia and winning the Academy Award for Best Music Score - Substantially Original in 1963.[1][2] Although the two had not been in contact since Lawrence of Arabia, Lean summoned Jarre to the Doctor Zhivago set in Madrid in 1965. MGM Records's music director was initially hesitant about Lean's choice of Jarre as composer, stating that, "Jarre is very good for open spaces and sand. We have better composers here in Hollywood for Russia and snow."[3]

Production[edit]

Jarre drew inspiration from Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov to score the film. To give the soundtrack its exotic feel, in addition to a traditional orchestra Jarre utilized a harpsichord, a zither, a koto, two shamisens, a 6-foot gong, a sonovox, a Novachord, an electric piano, and 24 balalaikas;[1] however, since no member of the MGM Studio Orchestra could play the balalaika, Jarre had to recruit players from a Russian Orthodox church in downtown Los Angeles.[4] The Moog synthesizer, which had very recently been invented at the time of the film's release in 1965, was also used by Jarre in composing the soundtrack.[5] In addition to his unique instrumentation, Jarre also utilized a chorus of 40 voices that required 20 microphones and six audio engineers to record the score.[1]

Perhaps the most well-known aspect of the soundtrack is "Lara's Theme". "Lara's Theme" is used as a leitmotif and appears in various sections throughout the film. It was quickly composed by Jarre after it was discovered that a Russian folk song that Lean wanted to include in the film was not in the public domain as Lean had originally thought.[3][6] On Jarre's first attempts at composing a love theme for the film, director David Lean was dissatisfied and instructed Jarre to "Forget about Zhivago; forget about Russia. Go to the mountains with your girlfriend and think about her and write a love theme for her." Lean was adamant that the love theme not be specifically Russian, but rather a universal theme.[5]

Jarre conducted a 110-piece orchestra for ten days to record the soundtrack.[1][7] He finished recording the soundtrack on 14 December 1965, only eight days before the film's world premiere.[4]

Legacy and accolades[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link

At the 38th Academy Awards, the soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Music Score—Substantially Original,[8] and at the 9th Annual Grammy Awards, it won the Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Show. It was also nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.[9]

The soundtrack debuted at No. 139 on the Billboard 200 on March 19, 1966.[10] It reached the Billboard 200 number-one position on November 5, 1966, almost one year after the film's release.[11] In 2015, Billboard 200 ranked the soundtrack eighth on their "Greatest Billboard 200 Albums of All Time" list.[12] In Canada the album peaked at No. 2, and was in the top 5 for 17 consecutive charts (January 2 - April 29).[13]

In 2013, the soundtrack ranked sixth on the ABC Classic FM Classic 100 Music in the Movies.[14]

Doctor Zhivago is frequently used in competitive figure skating programs. South Korean figure skater Choi Da-bin used a medley from the soundtrack for her free skate at the 2018 Winter Olympics.[15]

Track listing[edit]

Side 1
No.TitleLength
1."Overture from Doctor Zhivago"4:10
2."Main Title from Doctor Zhivago"2:37
3."Lara Leaves Yuri"1:25
4."At The Student Cafe"1:30
5."Komarovsky And Lara's Rendezvous"3:49
6."Revolution"3:59
Side 2
No.TitleLength
1."Lara's Theme from Doctor Zhivago"2:50
2."The Funeral"3:05
3."Sventytski's Waltz"2:12
4."Yuri Escapes"2:16
5."Tonya Arrives At Varykino"3:39
6."Yuri Writes A Poem For Lara"2:35
Total length:34:07

Personnel[edit]

Credits are adapted from LP booklet notes.[1]

  • Composer – Maurice Jarre
  • Conductor – Maurice Jarre
  • Music editor – Bill Saracino
  • Director of engineering – Val Valentin
  • Engineer for the record album – Thorne Nogar
  • Producer of the record album – Jesse Kaye
  • Orchestra – MGM Studio Orchestra
  • All compositions – Robbins, Feist & Miller
  • Album design – Acy Lehman
  • Booklet design – Sy Taffet
  • Booklet text – Nelson Lyon

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e Lyon, Nelson (1965). Doctor Zhivago (Original Soundtrack) (booklet). Maurice Jarre. MGM Records. MGM S1E-6ST.
  2. ^ Riley, John (30 March 2019). "Maurice Jarre: Composer who won three Oscars for his work with David Lean". The Independent. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Brownlow, Kevin (1996). David Lean: A Biography. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312145781.
  4. ^ a b Maxford, Howard (2000). David Lean. London: Batsford. ISBN 978-0713486803.
  5. ^ a b Phillips, Gene (2006). Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0813124155.
  6. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (1989). David Lean. New York, NY: H.N. Abrams. ISBN 978-0810935501.
  7. ^ Haney, Shawn M. "Doctor Zhivago [Original Soundtrack] Review". AllMusic.
  8. ^ "THE 38TH ACADEMY AWARDS: 1966". Oscars. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
  9. ^ "1966 GRAMMY WINNERS: 9th Annual GRAMMY Awards". Grammys. The Recording Academy.
  10. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of March 19, 1966". Billboard.
  11. ^ "Billboard 200: Week of November 5, 1966". Billboard.
  12. ^ Caulfield, Keith (12 November 2015). "Greatest Billboard 200 Albums & Artists of All Time: Adele's '21' & The Beatles Are Tops". Billboard. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  13. ^ "RPM Top 25 Albums - April 22, 1967" (PDF).
  14. ^ Noble, Guy (22 March 2013). "Classic 100: Music in the Movies". ABC Classic FM. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
  15. ^ Dure, Beau (23 February 2018). "Winter Olympics women's figure skating: 15-year-old Alina Zagitova wins gold – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2023.

External links[edit]

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