[1][2] Although the two had not been in contact since Lawrence of Arabia, Lean summoned Jarre to the Doctor Zhivago set in Madrid in 1965.

"[3] Jarre drew inspiration from Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov to score the film.

To give the soundtrack its exotic feel, in addition to a traditional orchestra Jarre utilized a harpsichord, a zither, a koto, two shamisens, a 6-foot gong, a sonovox, a Novachord, an electric piano, and 24 balalaikas;[1] however, since no member of the MGM Studio Orchestra could play the balalaika, Jarre had to recruit players from a Russian Orthodox church in downtown Los Angeles.

[4] The Moog synthesizer, which had very recently been invented at the time of the film's release in 1965, was also used by Jarre in composing the soundtrack.

[5] In addition to his unique instrumentation, Jarre also utilized a chorus of 40 voices that required 20 microphones and six audio engineers to record the score.

South Korean figure skater Choi Da-bin used a medley from the soundtrack for her free skate at the 2018 Winter Olympics.