Kilar: Bram Stoker's Dracula / Death And The Maiden / King Of The Last Days

Polish Nrso:Wit

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Cat No: 8557703

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Release Date: 30 September 2006

Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics

Packaging Type: Jewel Case

No of Units: 1

Barcode: 747313270323

Genres: Classical

Composer/Series: KILAR

Description
Wojciech Kilar (b.1932)Film MusicBram Stoker's Dracula 1992Konig der letzen Tage 1993Death and the Maiden 1994The Beads of One Rosary 1980Pearl in the Crown 1972Born in Lvov, formally Poland, now Ukraine, on 17thJuly, 1932, Wojciech Kilar studied at the State HigherSchool of Music in Katowice, moving to Paris in 1959to study under Nadia Boulanger at the Conservatoire.The recipient of numerous international awards,including the Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund Award in1960, and two awards from the Polish Minister ofCulture in 1967 and 1976, Kilar scored his first film in1960, and went on to write music for Poland's mostacclaimed directors, including Krzysztof Kieslowski,Krzysztof Zanussi, Kazimierz Kutz and AndrzejWajda.Kilar had worked on over a hundred Polish filmsbefore scoring his first American film, Francis FordCoppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, followed byacclaimed scores for Roman Polanski's Death and theMaiden and The Ninth Gate, and Jane Campion'sPortrait of a Lady, typified by expressive themes andminimalist harmonies. As well as his film work, Kilarcontinues to write concert music, including a HornSonata, a Wind Quintet, the epic cantata Exodus[Naxos 8.554788] used as the trailer for Schindler'sList, and a Piano Concerto. Kilar's first film score inthe 1960s, The Debutant, coincided with the radicalheyday of the Warsaw Autumn Festival. In 1974, themusical simplification of the orchestral work Krzesany[Naxos 8.554788] was anticipated by a series of scoresfor Krzysztof Zanussi's films. In this way, the twomain strands of Kilar's creative output can be seen tohave penetrated and influenced each other.Kilar's film music is, by necessity, one oflimitation. Given the medium, the composer cannothave a creative free hand. Film music must be discreet,occurring only where it deepens the psychic states ofcharacters or intensifies the dramaturgy of a givenmoment, conveying the essence of the work in theprocess. Put another way, good film music should nottry to dominate the viewer's perception. It cannotcreate a parallel narration and, because of this, thecomposer has consciously to limit his creativepotential. From this perspective, one can admire thestrength of expression of Kilar's film scores: clarifyingand deepening those scenes which cannot be expressedeither in pictures or words, and where music canfunction with all its power.Thanks in part to its powerful music, BramStoker's Dracula (1992) was acclaimed as one of themost authentic versions of the Dracula story, and wonKilar the ASCAP Award. Beside the horror element, ithas some evocative music surrounding the more'gothic' aspects. One instance is the Prokofiev-like'The Brides', passionately thrusting strings overmoody piano and percussion, which opens the suite.By contrast, 'The Party' is awash in delicate traceryfor violins and glockenspiel, almost make-believe inits air of fantasy. A depiction of the two heroines in thefilm, 'Mina/Elizabeth' is a fine example of Kilar'smelodic gift, recalling c
Tracklisting