Plaque honours composer Kilar in Ukraine

Zdzislaw Sowinski, friend of the late composer Wojciech Kilar, speaks during the unveiling of a plaque at the house where the composer was born in Lviv. Photo: PAP/Darek Delmanowicz

Polish and Ukrainian dignitaries took part in the unveiling ceremony, which accompanied the 3rd 'Under the High Castle' review of new Polish films.

“When I entered Wojciech's family home, which is inhabited today by a Polish-Ukrainian family, I saw a cat on the bed,” noted the late composer's friend Zdzislaw Sowinski (pictured above).

“That was a good sign, as Wojciech was a great fan of these animals,” he added.

Kilar won international renown for film scores for movies such as Roman Polanski's The Pianist and Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula, although he began his career as an avant-garde composer.

He was born in Lviv (then the Polish city of Lwow) in November 1932.

When Poland's borders were shifted west in 1945 after the Yalta Conference, Kilar's family, like thousands of others, was compelled to resettle, with Lviv absorbed into the Soviet Union. He never went back.

“Wojciech had a strong bond with Lviv,” Sowinski reflected.

“We often talked about the city – about its atmosphere, and his family.”

Wojciech Kilar died in Katowice in December 2013.

The 3rd 'Under the High Castle' review of new Polish films runs in Lviv until 19 October, with 33 Polish movies in the programme. (nh)

Source: PAP