Wojciech Kilar (17 July 1932–29 December 2013) was a Polish composer of classical and film music, born in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine) and based mainly in Katowice from 1948. He studied piano and composition at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice, graduating with distinction in 1955, and initially became associated with Poland’s postwar avant-garde before developing a more accessible, monumental style drawing on minimalism, Polish Highland folk traditions and religious music. His major concert works include Krzesany (1974), Exodus (1981), Orawa (1986), Baltic Canticles (1988), Missa pro pace (2000) and the September Symphony (2003). He began composing for film in 1958 and eventually wrote music for more than 100 Polish films, working with directors including Andrzej Wajda, Krzysztof Zanussi and Roman Polanski; his best-known scores include The Promised Land (1975), Le Roi et l'Oiseau (1980), A Year of the Quiet Sun (1984), Pan Tadeusz (1999), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), The Portrait of a Lady (1996), The Ninth Gate (1999) and The Pianist (2002). His Dracula score brought him international recognition and an ASCAP Award, while The Pianist earned him the 2003 César Award for Best Film Music and a BAFTA nomination. Wojciech Kilar received Poland’s Order of the White Eagle in 2012 and died in Katowice aged 81.
