Kritzerland “Taps” Maurice Jarre For a Pair of Soundtracks

Three-time Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre (1924-2009) makes his debut on the Kritzerland label with a newly-announced two-for-one release of his scores to 1981’s Taps and 1970’s The Only Game in Town.  Hollywood couldn’t help but take notice of the French-born Jarre when he scored director David Lean’s 1962 epic drama Lawrence of Arabia, and the Lean/Jarre collaboration was so successful that Jarre was asked to score each of Lean’s subsequent films.  He won his first Oscar for Lawrence, and his subsequent two trophies were also for Lean films: 1965’s Doctor Zhivago and 1984’s A Passage to India.  But Jarre, a nine-time nominee, also found time for other filmmakers.  Two of these efforts for George Stevens (The Only Game in Town starring Elizabeth Taylor and Warren Beatty) and Harold Becker (Taps, with an ensemble including Tom Cruise, Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton) are joined together on one new CD from Kritzerland.

This high-profile release follows other recent Jarre discoveries from Intrada (Dreamscape, The Mackintosh Man, The Last Flight of Noah’s Ark, and Island at the Top of the World – the latter two resulting from the partnership between Intrada and The Walt Disney Company) and La-La Land (Jarre’s unused score to Jennifer 8).  While Taps has been previously released on CD by Varese Sarabande, the limited edition was a quick sellout.  Jarre’s score to The Only Game in Town makes its world premiere soundtrack release here.  This limited edition of 1,000 copies is due to ship the last week of December from Kritzerland, but pre-orders made directly with the label usually arrive one to five weeks earlier.

After the jump: you’ll find the full information on Taps/The Only Game in Town courtesy Kritzerland’s full press release, plus the track listing and pre-order link!