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Cesar for Kilar!
2003-02-24
Wojciech Kilar received the best music award among other six Cesars for "The Pianist" directed by Roman Polański.
Roman Polański received the best director award and US actor Adrien Brody got the best actor prize for the English-language film. "The Pianist" , about musician Władysław Szpilman who escaped the Holocaust after being taken to a death camp along with thousands of Jews from the Warsaw ghetto, won awards for best sound, best scenery and best music. " The Pianist" swept the Cesars -- France's version of the Oscars -- coming way from the glitzy ceremony with six prizes including the coveted best picture award.
PWM has published the main theme from the film called "Moving to the Ghetto" in original arrangement (clarinet and string orchestra), as well as simple version (for clarinet and piano).
Wojciech Kilar is inarguably one of Polish finest composers. A classically trained pianist, he studied at some of finest music academies, including the State Higher School of Music in Katowice, before eventually moving to Paris in 1959 and studying under Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire. Having already received critical success as a classical composer, Kilar scored his first film that same year, and went on to write music from some of Poland's most acclaimed directors, including Krzysztof Kieslowski, Krzysztof Zanussi, Kazimierz Kutz and Andrzej Wajda. Having worked on over 100 titles in his home country, including internationally recognised titles such as "Bilans Kwartalny", "Spirala", "Constans", " Imperativ", "Rok Spokojnego Slonca", "Hubal", " Zycie za Zycie", "Pan Tadeusz" and the documentary about Pope John Paul II "From a Far Country", it was only a matter of time before Kilar was asked to score his first American film. Francis Ford Coppola gave him his English-language debut with his vibrant adaptation of "Bram Stoker's Dracula", and since then Kilar has built up a solid core of admirers in the film music world. His other English language features, Roman Polanski's trio "Death and the Maiden", "The Ninth Gate' and 'The Pianist', and Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady", all of which were typified by his trademark grinding basses and cellos, deeply romantic themes and minimalistic chord progressions. As well as his film work, Kilar continues to write and publish purely classical works including his latest "Missa pro pace" and newest work "September Symphony" that is scheduled for world performance this Autumn in Warsaw.
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