Melodically Jarre-d

Strange coincidences happen, and when they do, they leave me perplexed and mystified.I try looking for connections and explanations for the sequence in which things happen and often it leaves me all the more bewildered and awed at the apparent uncertainty and veiled link,if at all, between events.


I’ve watched Doctor Zhivago for quite a number of times.Initially,it was vicarious viewing,with Dad watching it and me stealing a glance while trying to get away from doing my homework by walking around the house for no particular reason.Later on,I did actually watch the movie.But all the while, even during the seeing yet unseeing phases,what stood out for me was the soundtrack of the movie.I remember humming Lara’s theme,even before I actually watched the movie.It was much later that I came to know that it was from Doctor Zhivago’s soundtrack.

The soundtrack is a magnum opus.There is a natural progression in which the score builds.It starts mellow,then gathers momentum and surges to reach a crescendo,a full bloom and one finds herself overwhelmed and engulfed by such a musical experience.

I decided to download the soundtrack of Doctor Zhivago yesterday to see whether the music,when heard independently,isolated from the movie,engendered a similar reaction.What I found was not too surprising.The music in itself had a more pronounced impact on me.Lara’s theme found a different dimension,especially the subdued usage when Lara leaves Yuri and its dominant and muted “flurry” in the Main Theme and the Overture.Sventytski’s Waltz took my breath away and how I wished I could waltz.Komarovsky and Lara’s rendezvous told a story in itself!I was amazed at the musical genius of the man behind this master-piece.

Today morning, as I was going through the newspaper in a hurry , something at the corner of the page caught my attention : “Lara’s Theme creator dead”. It’s difficult to put into words what I felt at that very moment. Someone, whom I discovered in a new light just yesterday, someone whose artistry produced a newfound interest in me, for his work, just yesterday, was no more, today.Yesterday, tomorrow felt like a long time away. Today proved me wrong.

A wizard who knew the magic spell “to translate in a very short time,with very few notes, absolutely essential feelings”. However his gift, I believe was in letting nothing being lost in translation.

“One could say my life itself has been one long soundtrack. Music was my life, music brought me to life, and music is how I will be remembered long after I leave this life. When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head and that only I can hear.” This was what the genius was quoted saying once. Probably he, himself could have put into words his idea of life and its aftermath.I just wish the world could hear his final waltz too.

Maurice Jarre.I just wish my first day as your ardent admirer did not coincide with your last day in this world and I so wish that you never had a final waltz.