Wojciech Kilar
Encyclopedia
Wojciech Kilar (ˈvɔjt͡ɕex kilar ; b. 17 July 1932 in Lwów, Poland
) is a Polish
classical and film music composer.
’s esteemed composers. Born in 1932 in Lwów (now a city in Ukraine
, it was part of Poland
at the time). His father was a gynecologist and his mother was a theater actress. Kilar has spent most of his life since 1948 in the city of Katowice
in Southern Poland, married (from April 1966 to November 2007) to Barbara Pomianowska, a pianist. Kilar was 22 years old when he met 18 year old Barbara, his future wife.
's finest music academies, including the State Higher School of Music
in Katowice
, under the composer and pianist Władysława Markiewiczówna
, graduating with top honors in 1955. He continued his post-graduate studies at the State Higher School of Music
in Kraków
from 1955 to 1958 under composer and pianist Bolesław Woytowicz. In 1957 he participated in the International New Music Summer Course in Darmstadt
. Kilar expanded on his musical education in Paris
in 1959-60, when a scholarship from the French government allowed him to study composition under Nadia Boulanger
.
Wojciech Kilar belonged (together with Boleslaw Szabelski
, his student Henryk Górecki
and Krzysztof Penderecki
) to the Polish Avant-garde music
movement of the Sixties. In 1977 Kilar was one of the founding members of the Karol Szymanowski
Society, based in the mountain town of Zakopane
. Kilar chaired the Katowice
chapter of the Association of Polish Composers for many years and from 1979-81 was vice chair of this association's national board. He was also a member of the Repertoire Committee for the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1991 Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi
made a biographical film about the composer titled Wojciech Kilar.
Having received critical success as a classical composer, Kilar scored his first domestic film in 1959, and has since gone on to write music from some of Poland's most acclaimed directors, including Krzysztof Kieslowski
, Krzysztof Zanussi
, Kazimierz Kutz
and Andrzej Wajda
. He worked on over 100 titles in his home country, including internationally recognised titles such as Bilans Kwartalny (1975), Spirala (1978), Constans
(1980), Imperativ (1982), Rok Spokojnego Slonca (1984), and Zycie za Zycie (1991), plus several others in France
and across other parts of Europe
. He made his English-language debut with Francis Ford Coppola
's adaptation of Dracula. His other English language features — Roman Polanski
's trio Death and the Maiden
(1994), The Ninth Gate
(1999) and The Pianist
(2002), and Jane Campion
's The Portrait of a Lady
(1996) — were typified by his trademark grinding bass
es and cellos, deeply romantic themes and minimalist
chord progressions.
In addition to his film work, Kilar continues to write and publish purely classical works, which have included a horn sonata
, a piece for a wind quintet, several pieces for chamber orchestra and choir, the acclaimed Baltic Canticles, the epic Exodus (famous as the trailer music from Schindler's List
), a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra dedicated to Peter Jablonski
, and his major work, the “September Symphony” (2003).
Having abandoned Avant-garde music
technical means almost entirely, he continues to employ a simplified musical language, in which sizable masses of sound serve as a backdrop for highlighted melodies. This occurs in those compositions that reference folk music (especially Polish Highlander Gorals
folk melodies) and in patriotic
and religious pieces.
Foundation in Boston
(1960), the Minister of Culture and Art (1967, 1975), the Association of Polish Composers (1975), the Katowice
province (1971, 1976, 1980), and the city of Katowice
(1975, 1992). He has also been awarded the First Class Award of Merit of the Polish Republic (1980), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Prize in New York
(1984), the Solidarity Independent Trade Union Cultural Committee Arts Award (1989), the Wojciech Korfanty
Prize (1995), the "Lux ex Silesia" Prize bestowed by the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Katowice
(1995), and the Sonderpreis des Kulturpreis Schlesien des Landes Niedersachsen (1996).
Kilar's film scores have also won him many honors. He received the best score award for the music to Ziemia obiecana / The Promised Land
(dir. Andrzej Wajda
) at the Festival of Polish Films in Gdansk
in 1975. This was followed by the Prix Louis Delluc, which Kilar was awarded in 1980 for the music to an animated film titled Le Roi et l'Oiseau
/ The King and the Mockingbird, (dir. Paul Grimault
). One year later he collected an award at the Cork
International Film Festival for the music to Papież Jan Pawel II / Pope John Paul II
/ Da un paese lontano: Papa Giovanni Paulo II (dir. Krzysztof Zanussi
).
Perhaps his greatest success came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola
's Dracula, for which Kilar received the ASCAP Award 1992 from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Producers in Los Angeles
and the prize for best score in a horror film in San Francisco in 1992. The Polish State Cinema Committee honored Kilar with a lifetime achievement award in 1991, while in 1976 he was decorated with the Cavaliers' Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In November 2008 Kilar was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
, Death and the Maiden
, The Portrait of a Lady
, The Ninth Gate
, The Truman Show
, Pan Tadeusz
, The Pianist
, Zemsta
, and We Own the Night
.
Presently Kilar composes symphonic music, chamber works and works for solo instruments. January 2001 saw the world premiere of his Missa pro pace (composed for a full symphony orchestra, mixed choir and a quartet of soloists) at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw
. The work was written to commemorate the Warsaw Philharmonic's centennial. In December 2001, it was performed again in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican
in the presence of Pope John Paul II
. His 1984 composition Angelus was used in the motion picture City of Angels; Orawa, from 1988, found its use in the Santa Clara Vanguard's 2003 production, "Pathways", as well as Grants Pass High School
's 2010 production, "Traffic", which named them the 2010 NWAPA champion.
For most of his life, Kilar's output has been dominated by music for film with a small but steady stream of concert works. Post 2000, he has turned to "music of a singular authorship". Since his 2003 September Symphony, (Symphony No.3), a four-movement full scale symphony written for the composer's friend Antoni Wit
, Kilar has returned to absolute music. September Symphony was the first symphony by the composer since 1955's Symphony for Strings (along with another student symphony) and Kilar considered it his first mature symphony (composed at age 71).
Since 2003, Kilar has been steadily producing large scale concert works. His Lament (2003) for unaccompanied mixed choir, his Symphony No.4 Sinfonia de Motu (Symphony of Motion) from 2005 written for large orchestra, choir and soloists, his Magnificat Mass from 2006, Symphony No.5 Advent Symphony from 2007 and another large mass, Te Deum premiered in November 2008. Kilar was quoted as saying that he believed he had discovered the philosopher's stone
, and that "there was nothing more beautiful than the solitary sound or concord that lasted eternally, that this was the deepest wisdom, nothing like our tricks with sonata allegro
s, fugue
s, and harmonics."
Kilar's works have been performed by several major international orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra
, the Cleveland Orchestra
, and the New York Philharmonic
.
campaign
Wojciech Kilar made a number of official statements of his support for Prawo i Sprawiedliwość.
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) is a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
classical and film music composer.
Biography
Wojciech Kilar is one of PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
’s esteemed composers. Born in 1932 in Lwów (now a city in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, it was part of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
at the time). His father was a gynecologist and his mother was a theater actress. Kilar has spent most of his life since 1948 in the city of Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
in Southern Poland, married (from April 1966 to November 2007) to Barbara Pomianowska, a pianist. Kilar was 22 years old when he met 18 year old Barbara, his future wife.
Education
Kilar studied at some of PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
's finest music academies, including the State Higher School of Music
University of Music in Katowice
University of Music in Katowice is one of the leading musical schools in Poland. It is located in Katowice, Silesia...
in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
, under the composer and pianist Władysława Markiewiczówna
Władysława Markiewiczówna
Władysława Markiewiczówna was a Polish pianist and renowned educator.She studied in the Conservatory of the Musical Society in Kraków in the piano class of Severin Eisenberger as well as in theory of music class of Zdzisław Jachimecki...
, graduating with top honors in 1955. He continued his post-graduate studies at the State Higher School of Music
Academy of Music in Kraków
The Academy of Music in Kraków is a conservatory located in downtown Kraków, Poland.-History:The Academy, until 1945 as a conservatory under the name Cracow Conservatory or Conservatory of the Music Society, was founded in 1888 by the eminent Polish composer Władysław Żeleński thanks to artistic...
in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
from 1955 to 1958 under composer and pianist Bolesław Woytowicz. In 1957 he participated in the International New Music Summer Course in Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. Kilar expanded on his musical education in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in 1959-60, when a scholarship from the French government allowed him to study composition under Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger
Nadia Boulanger was a French composer, conductor and teacher who taught many composers and performers of the 20th century.From a musical family, she achieved early honours as a student at the Paris Conservatoire, but believing that her talent as a composer was inferior to that of her younger...
.
Music career
Boleslaw Szabelski
Bolesław Szabelski was a Polish composer of modern classical music. While his style shifted and varied over the course of his life, he is best known for his atonal work composed during the 1950s and 1960s....
, his student Henryk Górecki
Henryk Górecki
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki was a composer of contemporary classical music. He studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Górecki became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during...
and Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
) to the Polish Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
movement of the Sixties. In 1977 Kilar was one of the founding members of the Karol Szymanowski
Karol Szymanowski
Karol Maciej Szymanowski was a Polish composer and pianist.-Life:Szymanowski was born into a wealthy land-owning Polish gentry family in Tymoszówka, then in the Russian Empire, now in Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied music privately with his father before going to Gustav Neuhaus'...
Society, based in the mountain town of Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
. Kilar chaired the Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
chapter of the Association of Polish Composers for many years and from 1979-81 was vice chair of this association's national board. He was also a member of the Repertoire Committee for the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1991 Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi, is a Polish producer and film director.He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop...
made a biographical film about the composer titled Wojciech Kilar.
Having received critical success as a classical composer, Kilar scored his first domestic film in 1959, and has since gone on to write music from some of Poland's most acclaimed directors, including Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieslowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski was an Academy Award nominated influential Polish film director and screenwriter, known internationally for The Double Life of Veronique and his film cycles The Decalogue and Three Colors.-Early life:...
, Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi, is a Polish producer and film director.He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop...
, Kazimierz Kutz
Kazimierz Kutz
Kazimierz Julian Kutz is a Polish film director, author, journalist and politician, one of the representatives of the Polish Film School and a deputy speaker of the Senate of Poland.- Biography :...
and Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
. He worked on over 100 titles in his home country, including internationally recognised titles such as Bilans Kwartalny (1975), Spirala (1978), Constans
Constans
Constans , was Roman Emperor from 337 to 350. He defeated his brother Constantine II in 340, but anger in the army over his personal life and preference for his barbarian bodyguards saw the general Magnentius rebel, resulting in Constans’ assassination in 350.-Career:Constans was the third and...
(1980), Imperativ (1982), Rok Spokojnego Slonca (1984), and Zycie za Zycie (1991), plus several others in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and across other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. He made his English-language debut with Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's adaptation of Dracula. His other English language features — Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's trio Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden (film)
Death and the Maiden is a 1994 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play by Ariel Dorfman. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.-Plot summary:...
(1994), The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult mystery thriller involving the rare book business, wherein rare-book dealer Dean Corso is hired by bibliophile Boris Balkan to validate a seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates...
(1999) and The Pianist
The Pianist (2002 film)
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
(2002), and Jane Campion
Jane Campion
Jane Campion is a filmmaker and screenwriter. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia – where she now lives – and the United States...
's The Portrait of a Lady
The Portrait of a Lady (film)
The Portrait of a Lady is a 1996 film adaptation of Henry James's novel The Portrait of a Lady directed by Jane Campion.The film stars Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Donovan, Shelley Duvall, Richard E...
(1996) — were typified by his trademark grinding bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es and cellos, deeply romantic themes and minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
chord progressions.
In addition to his film work, Kilar continues to write and publish purely classical works, which have included a horn sonata
Sonata
Sonata , in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata , a piece sung. The term, being vague, naturally evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms prior to the Classical era...
, a piece for a wind quintet, several pieces for chamber orchestra and choir, the acclaimed Baltic Canticles, the epic Exodus (famous as the trailer music from Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
), a Concerto for Piano and Orchestra dedicated to Peter Jablonski
Peter Jablonski
-Biography:Peter Jablonski was born in Lyckeby, Sweden to a Polish father and his first teacher was Polish. He was raised in Sweden and later moved to the United Kingdom...
, and his major work, the “September Symphony” (2003).
Having abandoned Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
technical means almost entirely, he continues to employ a simplified musical language, in which sizable masses of sound serve as a backdrop for highlighted melodies. This occurs in those compositions that reference folk music (especially Polish Highlander Gorals
Gorals
The Gorale are a group of indigenous people found along southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic...
folk melodies) and in patriotic
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
and religious pieces.
Awards
Wojciech Kilar has received numerous awards for his artistic activity and achievements, including prizes from the Lili BoulangerLili Boulanger
Lili Boulanger was a French composer, the younger sister of the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.-Early years:A Parisian-born child prodigy, who was good at piano...
Foundation in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
(1960), the Minister of Culture and Art (1967, 1975), the Association of Polish Composers (1975), the Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
province (1971, 1976, 1980), and the city of Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
(1975, 1992). He has also been awarded the First Class Award of Merit of the Polish Republic (1980), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Prize in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(1984), the Solidarity Independent Trade Union Cultural Committee Arts Award (1989), the Wojciech Korfanty
Wojciech Korfanty
Wojciech Korfanty , born Adalbert Korfanty, was a Polish nationalist activist, journalist and politician, serving as member of the German parliaments Reichstag and Prussian Landtag, and later on, in the Polish Sejm...
Prize (1995), the "Lux ex Silesia" Prize bestowed by the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
(1995), and the Sonderpreis des Kulturpreis Schlesien des Landes Niedersachsen (1996).
Kilar's film scores have also won him many honors. He received the best score award for the music to Ziemia obiecana / The Promised Land
The Promised Land
The Promised Land is a 1975 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda, based on a novel by Władysław Reymont. Set in the industrial city of Łódź, The Promised Land tells the story of a Pole, a German, and a Jew struggling to build a factory in the raw world of 19th century capitalism.Wajda presents a...
(dir. Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda
Andrzej Wajda is a Polish film director. Recipient of an honorary Oscar, he is possibly the most prominent member of the unofficial "Polish Film School"...
) at the Festival of Polish Films in Gdansk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
in 1975. This was followed by the Prix Louis Delluc, which Kilar was awarded in 1980 for the music to an animated film titled Le Roi et l'Oiseau
Le Roi et l'oiseau
Le Roi et l'oiseau is a 1980 traditionally-animated feature film directed by Paul Grimault...
/ The King and the Mockingbird, (dir. Paul Grimault
Paul Grimault
Paul Grimault was one of the most important French animators. He made many traditionally animated films that were delicate in style, satirical, and lyrical in nature....
). One year later he collected an award at the Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
International Film Festival for the music to Papież Jan Pawel II / Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
/ Da un paese lontano: Papa Giovanni Paulo II (dir. Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi, is a Polish producer and film director.He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop...
).
Perhaps his greatest success came with his score to Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's Dracula, for which Kilar received the ASCAP Award 1992 from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Producers in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and the prize for best score in a horror film in San Francisco in 1992. The Polish State Cinema Committee honored Kilar with a lifetime achievement award in 1991, while in 1976 he was decorated with the Cavaliers' Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. In November 2008 Kilar was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
List of Major Awards
- The French Lili BoulangerLili BoulangerLili Boulanger was a French composer, the younger sister of the noted composer and composition teacher Nadia Boulanger.-Early years:A Parisian-born child prodigy, who was good at piano...
Prize for composition (1960) - The Polish Ministry of Culture and Arts Award (1967 and 1976)
- The Polish Composers Union Award (1975)
- The French Prix Louis DellucLouis DellucLouis Delluc was a French film director, screen writer and film critic, many of whose late 1910s film writings for French newspapers were collected in the volume Cinema et cie...
(1980) - The Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Award (1984, USA)
- The Polish Cultural Foundation Award (2000)
- The 1992 ASCAP Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Producers in Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for his score for the Coppola horror film Bram Stoker's DraculaBram Stoker's DraculaDracula is a 1992 American Gothic horror-romance film directed and co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker...
. - The prize for best score in a horror film, Bram Stoker's DraculaBram Stoker's DraculaDracula is a 1992 American Gothic horror-romance film directed and co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker...
(San Francisco, 1992) - 2002 BAFTA Awards - Nominee
- Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music - The Pianist (2002 film)The Pianist (2002 film)The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
Works
The vast majority of Wojciech Kilar's work remains undiscovered by the music public at large, despite having written music for well over 100 films, including: Bram Stoker's DraculaBram Stoker's Dracula
Dracula is a 1992 American Gothic horror-romance film directed and co-produced by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker...
, Death and the Maiden
Death and the Maiden (film)
Death and the Maiden is a 1994 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play by Ariel Dorfman. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.-Plot summary:...
, The Portrait of a Lady
The Portrait of a Lady (film)
The Portrait of a Lady is a 1996 film adaptation of Henry James's novel The Portrait of a Lady directed by Jane Campion.The film stars Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Donovan, Shelley Duvall, Richard E...
, The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate
The Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult mystery thriller involving the rare book business, wherein rare-book dealer Dean Corso is hired by bibliophile Boris Balkan to validate a seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates...
, The Truman Show
The Truman Show
The Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...
, Pan Tadeusz
Pan Tadeusz (film)
Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania is a 1999 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the eponymous epic poem by Polish poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz . In his film, Andrzej Wajda weaves the tangled passions of men and women into a handsome, expansive tapestry of...
, The Pianist
The Pianist (2002 film)
The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
, Zemsta
Zemsta
Zemsta is a Polish comedy by Aleksander Fredro.-The Play:Real events inspired Fredro to write the play. In November of 1828, Fredro married Zofia Skotnicka, whose dowry included the title to half of a castle located in Odrzykon in the province of Galicia...
, and We Own the Night
We Own the Night
We Own the Night is a 2007 American crime drama film written and directed by James Gray and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes and Robert Duvall. It is the third film directed by Gray, and the second film to feature Phoenix and Wahlberg together, the first being The Yards...
.
Presently Kilar composes symphonic music, chamber works and works for solo instruments. January 2001 saw the world premiere of his Missa pro pace (composed for a full symphony orchestra, mixed choir and a quartet of soloists) at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
. The work was written to commemorate the Warsaw Philharmonic's centennial. In December 2001, it was performed again in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican
Apostolic Palace
The Apostolic Palace is the official residence of the Pope, which is located in Vatican City. It is also known as the Sacred Palace, the Papal Palace and the Palace of the Vatican...
in the presence of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
. His 1984 composition Angelus was used in the motion picture City of Angels; Orawa, from 1988, found its use in the Santa Clara Vanguard's 2003 production, "Pathways", as well as Grants Pass High School
Grants Pass High School
Grants Pass High School is a public high school located in Grants Pass, Oregon, United States. The school's sports teams wear blue and white as the school colors. The school mascot is the Caveman, and the sports teams are referred to as the Cavemen...
's 2010 production, "Traffic", which named them the 2010 NWAPA champion.
For most of his life, Kilar's output has been dominated by music for film with a small but steady stream of concert works. Post 2000, he has turned to "music of a singular authorship". Since his 2003 September Symphony, (Symphony No.3), a four-movement full scale symphony written for the composer's friend Antoni Wit
Antoni Wit
Antoni Wit is a Polish conductor. He is the present musical director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.Wit graduated from Kraków's State Higher School of Music, studying conducting under Henryk Czyz and composition under Krzysztof Penderecki, going on to study under Nadia Boulanger in...
, Kilar has returned to absolute music. September Symphony was the first symphony by the composer since 1955's Symphony for Strings (along with another student symphony) and Kilar considered it his first mature symphony (composed at age 71).
Since 2003, Kilar has been steadily producing large scale concert works. His Lament (2003) for unaccompanied mixed choir, his Symphony No.4 Sinfonia de Motu (Symphony of Motion) from 2005 written for large orchestra, choir and soloists, his Magnificat Mass from 2006, Symphony No.5 Advent Symphony from 2007 and another large mass, Te Deum premiered in November 2008. Kilar was quoted as saying that he believed he had discovered the philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
, and that "there was nothing more beautiful than the solitary sound or concord that lasted eternally, that this was the deepest wisdom, nothing like our tricks with sonata allegro
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
s, fugue
Fugue
In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....
s, and harmonics."
Kilar's works have been performed by several major international orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra
Philadelphia Orchestra
The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...
, the Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Orchestra
The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall...
, and the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
Selected Film music
- Nikt nie woła (Nobody's calling) (1960)
- Tarpany (Wild Horses) (1962)
- Głos z tamtego świata (Voice from beyond) (1962)
- Milczenie (Silence) (1963)
- Trzy kroki po ziemi (Three steps on Earth) (1965)
- Piekło i niebo (Hell and heaven) (1966)
- Bicz boży (God's whip) (1967)
- The Doll (1968 film)The Doll (1968 film)The Doll is a 1968 Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has. The Doll is an adaptation of the novel, The Doll by Bolesław Prus, which is regarded by many as one of the finest Polish novels ever written and, along with Pharaoh , made Bolesław Prus a potential candidate for the Nobel Prize in...
(Lalka) (1968) - Rejs (Cruise) (1970)
- Bolesław Śmiały (King Boleslaus the Bold) (1972)
- Opętanie (Obsession) (1973)
- Ziemia obiecana (Land of Promise) (1974)
- Smuga cienia (The shadow line) (1976)
- Tredowata (1976)
- Ptaki ptakom (Bords to birds) (1977)
- Barwy ochronne (Camouflage) (1977)
- Spirala (Spiral) (1978)
- Rodzina Polanieckich (TV Series) (1978)
- Le Roi et l'OiseauLe Roi et l'oiseauLe Roi et l'oiseau is a 1980 traditionally-animated feature film directed by Paul Grimault...
(The King and the Mockingbird) (1980) - Przypadek (Blind chance) (1982)
- Paradigma (1985)
- Chronicle of Amorous Events(1986)
- Salsa (1988)
- Gdzieśkolwiek jest, jesliś jest (Wherever you are, if you are) (1988)
- Stan posiadania (Inventory) (1989)
- Życie za życie (about Maximilian KolbeMaximilian KolbeSaint Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM Conv was a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, who volunteered to die in place of a stranger in the Nazi German concentration camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II.He was canonized on 10 October 1982 by Pope John Paul II, and...
) (1991) - Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
- Dotknięcie ręki (A touch of the hand) (1992)
- Death and the MaidenDeath and the Maiden (film)Death and the Maiden is a 1994 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on the play by Ariel Dorfman. It starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson.-Plot summary:...
(1994) - The Portrait of a LadyThe Portrait of a Lady (film)The Portrait of a Lady is a 1996 film adaptation of Henry James's novel The Portrait of a Lady directed by Jane Campion.The film stars Nicole Kidman, Barbara Hershey, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Donovan, Shelley Duvall, Richard E...
(1996) - Deceptive Charm (1996)
- Brat naszego Boga (Our God's brother) (1997)
- The Truman ShowThe Truman ShowThe Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...
(1998) (parts from Requiem Father Kolbe) - The Ninth GateThe Ninth GateThe Ninth Gate is a 1999 horror film directed, produced, and co-written by Roman Polanski. It is a neo-noir, occult mystery thriller involving the rare book business, wherein rare-book dealer Dean Corso is hired by bibliophile Boris Balkan to validate a seventeenth-century copy of The Nine Gates...
(1999) - Pan TadeuszPan Tadeusz (film)Pan Tadeusz: The Last Foray in Lithuania is a 1999 Polish film directed by Andrzej Wajda. It is based on the eponymous epic poem by Polish poet, writer and philosopher Adam Mickiewicz . In his film, Andrzej Wajda weaves the tangled passions of men and women into a handsome, expansive tapestry of...
(1999) - Life As a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2000)
- Le PianisteThe Pianist (2002 film)The Pianist is a 2002 biographical war film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Adrien Brody. It is an adaptation of the autobiography of the same name by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman...
(2002) - ZemstaZemstaZemsta is a Polish comedy by Aleksander Fredro.-The Play:Real events inspired Fredro to write the play. In November of 1828, Fredro married Zofia Skotnicka, whose dowry included the title to half of a castle located in Odrzykon in the province of Galicia...
(Revenge) (2002) - We Own the NightWe Own the NightWe Own the Night is a 2007 American crime drama film written and directed by James Gray and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes and Robert Duvall. It is the third film directed by Gray, and the second film to feature Phoenix and Wahlberg together, the first being The Yards...
(2007) - Il Sole Nero (2007)
Orchestral
- Small Overture (1955), for the Youth Festival, 1955
- Symphony for Strings (1955)
- Ode Béla Bartók in memoriam, for violin, brass, and percussion (1956)
- Riff 62 (1962)
- Generique (1963)
- Springfield Sonnet (1965)
- Prelude and Christmas Carol, for four oboes and string orchestra (1972)
- Krzesany (1974)
- Kóscielec (1976)
- Exodus (1981)
- Angelus (1984), for symphony orchestra, soprano, and mixed choir
- Orawa, for string orchestra (1988)
- Choralvorspiel (Choral Prelude), for string orchestra, (1988)
- Requiem Father Kolbe, for symphony orchestra (1994)
- Missa Pro Pace (2000), for orchestra, chorus, and soloists
- Lament (2003), for mixed unaccompanied choir
- Symphony No.3 "September Symphony" (2003) for orchestra
- Symphony No.4 "Sinfonia de Motu" (Symphony of Motion) (2005), for orchestra, chorus, and soloists
- Magnificat (2007), for orchestra, chorus, and soloists
- Symphony No. 5 "Advent Symphony" (2007), for orchestra, chorus, and soloists
- Te Deum (2008), for orchestra, chorus, and soloists
- Veni Creator (2008), for mixed chorus and strings
- Paschalis Hymn (2008) for chorus
- Uwertura uroczysta [Solemn Overture] (2010) for orchestra
Concertante
- Symphony Concertant, for piano and orchestra (1956)
- Piano Concerto No.1 (1996)
- Piano Concerto No.2 (2011)
Chamber
- Flute Sonatina (1951)
- Woodwind Quintet (1952)
- Training 68, for clarinet, trombone, and piano, (1968)
Personal Quotes
- Every graduate... at the conservatoire is able to compose a SymphonySymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, and maybe it will even receive a performance. But to write a melody which is sung and played by hundreds of interpreters is something one really has to be born to – ideally in AmericaUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A good thing for us (not for him, as one has to admit) that Wladyslaw SzpilmanWladyslaw SzpilmanWładysław "Wladek" Szpilman was a Polish-Jewish pianist, composer, and memoirist. Szpilman is widely known as the protagonist of the Roman Polanski film The Pianist, which is based on his memoir of the same name recounting how he survived the Holocaust...
, our Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, was born in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
... - Highlander's music is an inexhaustible source of muse. My most popular pieces have been played for more than 30 years; and I owe it to highlander's music (GoralsGoralsThe Gorale are a group of indigenous people found along southern Poland, northern Slovakia, and in the region of Cieszyn Silesia in the Czech Republic...
music). - I was forced to learn music (laughs). My father was a doctor, mother an actress, so my house was full of artistic atmosphere.
- I turned down the proposition to compose music for Femme Fatale directed by Brian De PalmaBrian De PalmaBrian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
and I regret it very much, because I wanted to write music for this film. - I would like to be remembered as a good human being, someone who brought little happiness, hope and reflection into life and into the world and perhaps a bit of faith by those religious pieces. If I were to die seeing that just one person had converted because of me, I would have been satisfied.
Political views
During 2007 parliamentParliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
Wojciech Kilar made a number of official statements of his support for Prawo i Sprawiedliwość.