THE PIANIST, DRACULA Composer Wojciech Kilar Dead At 81

THR has reported that composer Wojciech Kilar died on Sunday at the age of 81.

Among his many film score credits are DRACULA (d. Francis Ford Coppola), THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (d. Jane Campion). WE OWN THE NIGHT (d. James Gray), DEATH AND THE MAIDEN, THE PIANIST and THE NINTH GATE (d. Roman Polanski).

The composer’s accolades include a BAFTA nomination (Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music) and César Award in 2003 for Best Music Written for a Film, THE PIANIST and the ASCAP Award in 1993 for Top Box Office Films, DRACULA.

In a 2007 interview with PLUS, a journal about Polish-American affairs, he recalled asking Coppola in Los Angeles what kind of music he was expecting and the director replied: “I did my part. You are the composer. Do what you want.”

Kilar’s dedication to composing primarily for the concert halls even led him to lose a commission to write the score for Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. “In a movie, music is just one of the many elements,” Kilar once said. “Serious music, which I compose, is signed with my name only, and I get real pleasure from that.” (AP).

Read the rest of The Hollywood Reporter’s article HERE and listen to clips from some of Kilar’s scores.