Wojciech Kilar

Kilar in noir mode: searching, bold and surprising. Music from three crime films made between 1967 and 1969, never before released on record.

In the second half of the 1960s, when Wojciech Kilar was one of the most sought-after film composers in Poland, his many projects included three feature films that, though entirely different in message and approach, shared the criminal nature of their stories. Kilar Kryminalnie brings these three soundtracks together on one disc. The music surprises with unusual sonic solutions: Tylko umarły odpowie is ruled by musical saw and vibraphone, Zbrodniarz, który ukradł zbrodnię by ominous timpani and strings treated in an avant-garde way, and Morderca zostawia ślad by prepared piano. The whole is surprisingly coherent in character, wrapped in an aura of unease.

The recordings appear remastered from original tapes from the archive of the Feature Film Studio (Wytwórnia Filmów Fabularnych) in Wrocław (Tylko umarły odpowie and Morderca zostawia ślad) and of the Documentary and Feature Film Studio in Warsaw (Zbrodniarz, który ukradł zbrodnię). The booklet contains a text about the films and stills. The disc continues the joint series of the Wrocław Feature Film Studio and GAD Records presenting the most interesting film music recordings from the studio's archives. The music is played by the Polish Radio Grand Symphony Orchestra in Katowice conducted by Konrad Bryzek: Tylko umarły odpowie (tracks 1 to 8), Zbrodniarz, który ukradł zbrodnię (tracks 9 to 16) and Morderca zostawia ślad (tracks 17 to 23).