Katowice to honour composer Wojciech Kilar

The house in which Kilar had lived and worked remained in his family after this death in 2013. The composer’s family agreed to sell it for PLN 790,000 (EUR 190,000).

Born in Lviv (now in Ukraine) in 1932, Kilar studied piano and composition in Katowice and chose the city as his place of residence. He also developed very close links with Katowice and the region. He lived there for 65 years and is buried at a local cemetery.

Kilar was one of the founders of the Polish school of avant-garde music in the early 1960s. In the 1970s he began to use a simplified musical idiom, turning to tradition and looking for inspiration in folk music and religion. In many works, he attempted to revive a national style in Polish music. The folk music of the Tatras inspired him in his most popular orchestral piece, Krzesany, which was performed with much success all over the world, as well as in such works as Kościelec 1909, Grey Mist and Orawa.

Kilar has written soundtracks to over 150 films. He collaborated with many prominent directors. Among them were Polish directors Krzysztof Kieślowski, Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Kazimierz Kutz. He also worked on foreign productions, such as Francis F.Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jane Campion's The Portrait of a Lady and Roman Polański's Death and the Maiden and The Pianist. (mk/vb)