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Lara's Theme
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Lara's Theme
"Lara's Theme" is the name given to a leitmotif written for the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago by composer Maurice Jarre. Soon afterward, the leitmotif became the basis of the song "Somewhere, My Love". Numerous versions, both orchestral and vocal, have been recorded; among the most popular was the version by Ray Conniff Singers.
Maurice Jarre was asked by director David Lean to write the score for Doctor Zhivago, including a theme for the character of Lara, played by Julie Christie. Initially Lean had desired to use a well-known Russian song but could not locate the rights to it, and delegated responsibility to Jarre. Lean informed Jarre he was working under time constraint and that the score needed to be composed and recorded in a few weeks.
Jarre wrote a number of themes for the film, however, Lean was dissatisfied with the theme for Lara. Lean suggested to Jarre that, rather than thinking about Zhivago or Russia, he should go to the mountains with his girlfriend and write a love theme for her. Lean said the theme should not be specifically about Russia, rather it should be a universal theme. Jarre spent the weekend in the mountains above Los Angeles, and by Monday, he found "Lara's Theme" when composing on the piano in an hour.
In editing Zhivago, Lean and producer Carlo Ponti reduced or outright deleted many of the themes composed by Jarre; Jarre was unhappy because he felt that an over-reliance on "Lara's Theme" would ruin the soundtrack.
On the Doctor Zhivago soundtrack album, there is no track listed as "Lara's Theme". A variation of the piece appears in numerous sections, however. Some tracks briefly include it, while others are composed entirely from the motif. The orchestration is varied, most notably with balalaika and orchestra.
One of the main reasons the theme is featured in so many tracks is that an impromptu balalaika orchestra was hired from several Russian Orthodox Churches in Los Angeles; the musicians could only learn 16 bars of music at a time and could not read written music. Edgar Stanistreet, a street musician from Philadelphia, claimed that he was asked to play the song over the telephone to an MGM executive and was later taken into the studio to record. He was not credited, however. Tracks which feature it include (from the 1995 Extended Soundtrack release):
This soundtrack also includes jazz, rock 'n' roll, and swing versions of "Lara's Theme" which were performed by the MGM Studio Orchestra between takes.
Jarre's aesthetic fears notwithstanding, the theme became an instant success and gained fame throughout the world. Paul Webster took the theme and added lyrics to it to create "Somewhere, My Love". Connie Francis was initially interested in recording the song, but withdrew from the project when the lyrics were presented to her because she thought of them as too "corny". A few weeks later, Francis reconsidered her position and recorded the song nonetheless, but by then Ray Conniff had also recorded a version of his own, and his version reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966. Conniff's version of the song also topped the "Easy listening" chart in the U.S. for four weeks. Despite Conniff's success, Francis also had her version released as a single, and although it failed to chart in the US, it became one of her biggest successes internationally, reaching "Top 5" in territories such as Scandinavia and Asia. In the UK Mike Sammes Singers released a vocal version in 1966, which peaked at number 14 on the British chart in 1967.
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Lara's Theme
"Lara's Theme" is the name given to a leitmotif written for the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago by composer Maurice Jarre. Soon afterward, the leitmotif became the basis of the song "Somewhere, My Love". Numerous versions, both orchestral and vocal, have been recorded; among the most popular was the version by Ray Conniff Singers.
Maurice Jarre was asked by director David Lean to write the score for Doctor Zhivago, including a theme for the character of Lara, played by Julie Christie. Initially Lean had desired to use a well-known Russian song but could not locate the rights to it, and delegated responsibility to Jarre. Lean informed Jarre he was working under time constraint and that the score needed to be composed and recorded in a few weeks.
Jarre wrote a number of themes for the film, however, Lean was dissatisfied with the theme for Lara. Lean suggested to Jarre that, rather than thinking about Zhivago or Russia, he should go to the mountains with his girlfriend and write a love theme for her. Lean said the theme should not be specifically about Russia, rather it should be a universal theme. Jarre spent the weekend in the mountains above Los Angeles, and by Monday, he found "Lara's Theme" when composing on the piano in an hour.
In editing Zhivago, Lean and producer Carlo Ponti reduced or outright deleted many of the themes composed by Jarre; Jarre was unhappy because he felt that an over-reliance on "Lara's Theme" would ruin the soundtrack.
On the Doctor Zhivago soundtrack album, there is no track listed as "Lara's Theme". A variation of the piece appears in numerous sections, however. Some tracks briefly include it, while others are composed entirely from the motif. The orchestration is varied, most notably with balalaika and orchestra.
One of the main reasons the theme is featured in so many tracks is that an impromptu balalaika orchestra was hired from several Russian Orthodox Churches in Los Angeles; the musicians could only learn 16 bars of music at a time and could not read written music. Edgar Stanistreet, a street musician from Philadelphia, claimed that he was asked to play the song over the telephone to an MGM executive and was later taken into the studio to record. He was not credited, however. Tracks which feature it include (from the 1995 Extended Soundtrack release):
This soundtrack also includes jazz, rock 'n' roll, and swing versions of "Lara's Theme" which were performed by the MGM Studio Orchestra between takes.
Jarre's aesthetic fears notwithstanding, the theme became an instant success and gained fame throughout the world. Paul Webster took the theme and added lyrics to it to create "Somewhere, My Love". Connie Francis was initially interested in recording the song, but withdrew from the project when the lyrics were presented to her because she thought of them as too "corny". A few weeks later, Francis reconsidered her position and recorded the song nonetheless, but by then Ray Conniff had also recorded a version of his own, and his version reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1966. Conniff's version of the song also topped the "Easy listening" chart in the U.S. for four weeks. Despite Conniff's success, Francis also had her version released as a single, and although it failed to chart in the US, it became one of her biggest successes internationally, reaching "Top 5" in territories such as Scandinavia and Asia. In the UK Mike Sammes Singers released a vocal version in 1966, which peaked at number 14 on the British chart in 1967.