(b Lwów, 17 July 1932). Polish composer. He studied in Katowice and Kraków and with Boulanger in Paris. He began as a neo-classicist, though since 1962 he has used new techniques and is most successful in orchestral pieces.
Wojciech Kilar
| Music Encyclopedia: Wojciech Kilar |
| Artist: Wojciech Kilar |
- Period: Contemporary (1950- )
- Country: Poland
- Born: July 17, 1932 in Lviv, Ukraine
Biography
Even though many listeners may be most familiar with the Polish composer Wojciech Kilar's work through his score for Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), his compositions also include numerous highly successful orchestral works, in addition to many vocal and chamber pieces. Following a rigorous education in Eastern Europe, the composer began to take several prizes, and has continued to do so throughout his career. His formal training in piano and composition began in 1950 at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice with B. Woytowicz and continued with him at the State Higher School of Music in Kraków between 1955 - 1958. During the same period of time (1957), he attended summer classes at Darmstadt. Shortly after he completed his training with Woytowicz, he received a French government scholarship that allowed him to further his education in composition, this time in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1959 - 1960). The year he finished these studies, his Oda Béla Bartók in memoriam gained him the Lili Boulanger Award. Prizes that followed included the Polish Composer's Union Award (1975), the Polish State Award (1980), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Prize (1984), an ASCAP Award (1992), and the Sonderpreis des Kulturpreis Schlesein des Landes Niedersachsen (1996).Kilar's orchestral (symphonies, symphonic poems, concertos, etc.) and stage works (11 scores total) are very widely recorded, the former exclusively under the Milan label and the latter under a wider selection of recording companies like Olympia, Erato, London, Silva Screen, and Varese Sarabande. Of his compositions that have been recorded, most are excerpts from his film scores, which include L'année du soleil calme, La chronique des événements amoureux, Full Gallop (Cwal), Hypothesis (Hipoteza) (1973), Land of Promise (Ziemia Obiecana) (1975), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), and La terre de la grande promesse. ~ Meredith Gailey, All Music Guide
| Actor: Wojciech Kilar |
- Born: Jul 17, 1932 in Lvov, Poland [now Ukraine]
- Active: '60s-2000s
- Major Genres: Drama
- Career Highlights: A Year of the Quiet Sun, Barwy Ochronne, The Promised Land
- First Major Screen Credit: Glos Z Tamtego Swiata (1962)
Biography
The recipient of numerous international awards, including the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award of Boston (1960) and two awards from the Polish Minister of Culture (1967 and 1976), Wojciech Kilar is one of Poland's most famous and highly respected composers. Heavily influenced by the music of John Cage, Kilar is known for integrating elements of Polish folk music with classical pieces. His most influential works include A Short Overture, Ode to Bela Bartok in Memoriam, and Exodus. Kilar has scored many films since he provided the music for Glos Z Tamtego Swiata/The Voice From Beyond in 1962. He has worked extensively with such Polish directors as Krysztof Zanussi and Andrzej Wajda, but also occasionally scores international productions. His work for Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) earned him the ASCAP Award. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide| Filmography: Wojciech Kilar |
| Wikipedia: Wojciech Kilar |
Wojciech Kilar (Polish pronunciation: [ˈvɔjt͡ɕex kilar]; b. 17 July 1932 in Lwów, Poland (now L'viv, Ukraine)) is a Polish classical and film music composer.
Contents |
Life
Kilar studied at the State College of Music in Katowice, Poland under the composer/pianist Władysława Markiewiczówna, graduating with top honors in 1955. He continued his graduate studies at the State College of Music in Kraków from 1955 to 1958 under composer/pianist Bolesław Woytowicz. His studies continued in Paris with Nadia Boulanger from 1959 to 1960.
He has won several prizes for his works and belongs (together with Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Górecki) to the Polish avant-garde movement of the Sixties. His orchestral work Krzesany (Climbing up the mountains) from 1974 became famous, but since the mid 1970s he has become well known as a composer of film scores, scoring more than 100 films in Poland, France, Germany, and Hollywood, working with directors such as Roman Polanski, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jane Campion.
He is still publishing 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 of that year, it was performed again at the Vatican in the presence of Pope John Paul II. [1]
His awards include the French Lili Boulanger 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 Delluc (1980), the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation Award (1984, USA), and the Polish Cultural Foundation Award (2000). His score for the Coppola horror film Bram Stoker's Dracula garnered the 1992 ASCAP Award 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.
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".
For most of his mature life Kilar's output has been dominated by music for film with a small but steady stream of concert works. Post 2000, the composer 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 conductor 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 has spent most of his life where he lives now, in the city of Katowice in Southern Poland.
Political Views
During 2007 parliament campaign he made a number of official statements of his support for Prawo i Sprawiedliwość.
Works
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, 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
Concertante
- Symphony Concertant, for piano and orchestra (1956)
- Piano Concerto (1996)
Chamber
- Flute Sonatina (1951)
- Woodwind Quintet (1952)
- Training 68, for clarinet, trombone, and piano, (1968)
Piano
Numerous solo piano pieces
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)
- Lalka (The Doll) (1969)
- 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'Oiseau (The King and the Mockingbird) (1980)
- Przypadek (Blind chance) (1982)
- Paradigma (1985)
- Salsa (1988)
- Gdzieśkolwiek jest, jesliś jest (Wherever you are, if you are) (1988)
- Stan posiadania (Inventory) (1989)
- Życie za życie (about Maximilian Kolbe) (1991)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)
- Dotknięcie ręki (A touch of the hand) (1992)
- Death and the Maiden (1994)
- The Portrait of a Lady (1996)
- Deceptive Charm (1996)
- Brat naszego Boga (Our God's brother) (1997)
- The Truman Show (1998) (parts from Requiem Father Kolbe)
- The Ninth Gate (1999)
- Pan Tadeusz (1999)
- Life As a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease (2000)
- Le Pianiste (2002)
- Zemsta (Revenge) (2002)
- We Own the Night (2007)
- Il Sole Nero (2007)
References
- ^ Czerwińska, I., Mass for Peace, The Warsaw Voice, 16 December 2001. (accessed 1 October 2007)
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 | Portrait of a Lady (1996 Album by Wojciech Kilar) |
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 | Music Encyclopedia. The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Portrait of a Lady (1996 Album by Wojciech Kilar)
- Truman Show (1998 Album by Burkhard Dallwitz)
- The Ninth Gate (1999 Album by Wojciech Kilar)
- Wojciech Kilar (Soundtrack Artist, '90s, 2000s)
- Kilar: September Symphony; Lament (Classical Album)
- We Own the Night (2007 Album by Original Soundtrack)
- Kilar: Magnificat; Victoria (Classical Album)
- Antoni Wit (Classical Musician)
- Fumio Yasuda: Heavenly Blue (Classical Album)
- Kilar: Piano Concerto (Classical Album)
- Georges Delerue: Four Original Film Soundtracks (Classical Album)
- Polish Academy Award for Best Film Score
- The Pianist (soundtrack)
- Sonorism
