Heaven is a Better (Sounding) Place Today

My music loving soul is so sad to hear that Maurice Jarre has died. He was one of my favorite film composers. ("Ghost", "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Tin Drum") He was best known , of course, for "Lara's Theme" from "Dr Zhivago", which no one can deny the beauty of, but I always preferred his "Building the Barn" from "Witness". It's a stunner that does the rare trick in film music of both perfectly matching the onscreen action and standing alone as a beautiful piece of orchestral classical music.

I have said for years that if I ever married again using "Building the Barn" as the processional had to be part of deal. It works thematically and musically, with the best build-from rumbly low beginning to the soaring end-ever. (Building-get it?) To have the bride walk in at the trumpet's climax-just when you think the song has built as high as it could possibly go, it goes still higher, the roof on the barn if you will-I think that would be jawdropping.

So rest in peace Mr. Jarre and many thanks for the gift of this song.