I think it was Walton,not Britten,who was oroginally approached to write the score for 'Lawrence of Arabia'.I can just imagine what it would have sounded like. I do think Maurice Jarre did a spleidid job,though.
Hello Smittims,
I've spoken to Maurice Jarre about this on many occasions.
It was indeed Walton that was approached first for Lawrence, as was pointed out in the Prom script, but Britten WAS approached too, later on. The idea was for Britten to write the 'English' music, Khatchaturian to write the more exotic 'foreign' music, and Maurice Jarre would fill in the gaps. But Britten needed six months to write his bit and that simply wasn't an option for David Lean and the distributors. Richard Rodgers was then brought in to write some themes (which he did), but during the play-through Lean was distraught - he hated the themes. Jarre stepped up to the plate, played the theme he'd been working on anyway, and Lean put his hand on Jarre's shoulder and said 'That's it.' The rest is history.
Jarre told me that he can still 'feel' Lean's hand on his shoulder - he knows what that moment meant for the rest of his career.
bws,
Tommy
