LARA'S THEME (DR ZHIVAGO) by Maurice Jarre (1924-2009) arranged for hammered dulcimer by Peter Jones

"Lara’s Theme" is the unforgettable music of the 1965 movie masterpiece, Doctor Zhivago. Composed by the French film composer Maurice Jarre, he found its inspiration during a weekend retreat in the mountains above Los Angeles. Jarre was a frequent collaborator with director David Lean, writing music for his grand historical epics, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter, and A Passage to India. Jarre won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for three out of these four monumental movies, with only Ryan's Daughter being the exception. As Lawrence of Arabia revolutionized the epic genre, so did, Doctor Zhivago by focusing on how national upheavals crush ordinary people’s artistry, romance, and daily lives. They adapted the film from Boris Pasternak’s Nobel Prize-winning novel. But the Soviet Union banned it because of its critical portrayal of the Bolshevik Revolution. To get the book into print, Pasternak had to smuggle the manuscript out of Russia. Likewise, because Lean was forbidden from shooting on location, he filmed it in Spain. The movie became the second highest-grossing film in MGM history, after Gone With the Wind. The melody became an international phenomenon, prompting lyricist Paul Francis Webster to add words to create the vocal hit "Somewhere, My Love." Recorded by icons like Connie Francis, Ray Conniff, and Frank Sinatra, the song hit No. 1 on charts worldwide, including in France where it was celebrated as "Chanson de Lara,” (Lara’s Song). I have used "Somewhere, My Love" as the foundation for my transcription for the Hammered Dulcimer. The arrangement opens with an arpeggiated prelude, transitions into a tremolo designed to imitate the solo balalaika, and concludes with the fully accompanied statement of the main two themes.