# In Praise of Kilar's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)



## dcoscina (Sep 20, 2021)

I saw this film 4 times in theatres as a 24 year old in 1992 and loved the set design, the amazing performance of Oldman and mostly because of Kilar's score. It was such a different sound compared to everything else out in Hollywood then. I ended up becoming a Kilar fan and sought out a lot of his concert works and subsequent film scores (Death and the Maiden, Portrait of a Lady, Ninth Gate, etc). 

LaLaLand Records released a terrific expanded presentation of this tremendous score a few years back. The unedited longer cues that seem to reflect Kilar's original inspiration are presented beautifully. See below



I also find the compositional ideas Kilar used seemed to be picked up by Shore for LOTR (not surprising since Kilar was originally attached to this project). The stacked dissonances and suspended harmonies definitely found their way into the Wraiths music for FOTR for sure.

EDIT- I will say that, while the movie is flawed in many ways (clunky dialogue, campy acting aka Tony Hopkins, horrid accents from Reeves and Ryder), the artistry of the sets, the cinematography, and the music makes me forgive the shortcomings. It's not often a major studio motion picture strives for so much. Even if it came up short in some depts.


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## devonmyles (Sep 20, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> I saw this film 4 times in theatres as a 24 year old in 1992 and loved the set design, the amazing performance of Oldman and mostly because of Kilar's score. It was such a different sound compared to everything else out in Hollywood then. I ended up becoming a Kilar fan and sought out a lot of his concert works and subsequent film scores (Death and the Maiden, Portrait of a Lady, Ninth Gate, etc).
> 
> LaLaLand Records released a terrific expanded presentation of this tremendous score a few years back. The unedited longer cues that seem to reflect Kilar's original inspiration are presented beautifully. See below
> 
> ...




Yes, a score I have always liked and been fascinated by.

Is it you who posted the breakdown on YouTube of the Instruments used, along with a small dissection of the chorus parts?
If not, it's interesting and worth a look. Fourth YouTube post down, under the name of 'Dimitris Nikoloulis'.


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## dcoscina (Sep 20, 2021)

devonmyles said:


> Yes, a score I have always liked and been fascinated by.
> 
> Is it you who posted the breakdown on YouTube of the Instruments used, along with a small dissection of the chorus parts?
> If not, it's interesting and worth a look. Fourth YouTube post down, under the name of 'Dimitris Nikoloulis'.


not me- clearly someone who had access to the full concert score. I loved that post! Really insightful


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## KerrySmith (Sep 20, 2021)

Definitely one of my top-2 scores (The Village [JNH] being the other). So deceptively simple and effective. Now that you mention it, I can hear his style all over the LOTR score as well. Altho there are some very serious nods to Holst in this, as well.


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## dcoscina (Sep 20, 2021)

KerrySmith said:


> Definitely one of my top-2 scores (The Village [JNH] being the other). So deceptively simple and effective. Now that you mention it, I can hear his style all over the LOTR score as well. Altho there are some very serious nods to Holst in this, as well.


some of Kilar's Dracula seems simple but the first track is pretty dense. A lot of stuff going on under the hood as the saying goes. not as ornate as Williams' Dracula (1979) but definitely has a defined characteristic and sound.


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## Troels Folmann (Sep 20, 2021)

It is an amazing soundtrack. The love theme is ... to die for.


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## dcoscina (Sep 20, 2021)

Troels Folmann said:


> It is an amazing soundtrack. The love theme is ... to die for.


yes it's quite a developed, long theme too. We don't get much of those any longer... they are all 8 or 16 bar things... sigh.


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## PedroPH (Sep 20, 2021)

His score for "Pan Tadeusz" (Polish movie directed by famous Andrzej Wajda) is great, too.


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## Dave Connor (Sep 20, 2021)

It’s a stunning, beautiful score. Perfect really. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in a movie theatre with all this deep, chopsy writing going on. It fit the 
stunning visuals and story so well you would have thought it was shot to the music. My faith in cinema as a bold, artistic, enterprise with mass appeal was restored that night. Naturally, Gary Oldman was in the film.


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## dcoscina (Sep 21, 2021)

Dave Connor said:


> It’s a stunning, beautiful score. Perfect really. I couldn’t believe I was sitting in a movie theatre with all this deep, chopsy writing going on. It fit the
> stunning visuals and story so well you would have thought it was shot to the music. My faith in cinema as a bold, artistic, enterprise with mass appeal was restored that night. Naturally, Gary Oldman was in the film.


Totally agree Dave! I felt the same way! This was back when film’s such as these were events and a real experience.


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## Gil (Sep 21, 2021)

Hello,
Really great composer!
Personally my preferred score is The Ninth Gate:




There is a Films section on his website, and some of his scores sheet can be bought/hired from PWM edition.

Regards,
Gil.


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## LamaRose (Sep 21, 2021)

Honestly haven't listened to the entire score on its own, but those strings on "Love Remembered" are really stunning... I listen to that piece quite often.


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## dcoscina (Sep 21, 2021)

Here is a basic transcription of the love theme as presented in A Love Remembered





This is the original statement of the love theme/Minna theme as presented in the first track. Kilar moves down chromatically compared to the previous example where it's adhering to the minor 9th harmonies. This original presentation is more exotic and tonally unstable.


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## dcoscina (Sep 21, 2021)

LamaRose said:


> Honestly haven't listened to the entire score on its own, but those strings on "Love Remembered" are really stunning... I listen to that piece quite often.


Gotta love those alternating minor 9ths. So evocative.


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## Pier (Sep 21, 2021)

This was the first soundtrack I listened on its own when I was like 15 years old. We used to play tabletop RPG Vampire games and put it in the background.

It's still one of my favorite soundtracks. I love the movie too, although I've learned to forgive some of its defects like the Keanu performance.


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## Niah2 (Sep 21, 2021)

This is a legendary score IMO, I have never heard anything quite like it. Moments of absolute tenderness and the most exquisite beauty to thunderous storms of sound. It still gives chills down my spine to this day.

Maybe the reason I can still enjoy the film as well.


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## dcoscina (Sep 22, 2021)

Glad to see so much love for this score. It’s aged very well over time and can be considered a classic (coming up on its 30th anniversary next year)


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## Gil (Sep 22, 2021)

Hello,
You can download the first 2 pages of the Dracula suite score on the official website:
http://wojciechkilar.pl/upload//Dracula.pdf


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## Jorgakis (Sep 22, 2021)

It’s one of my favourite scores, out of lesser known ones. I think it deserves more attention. Really like the minimalism while having actually sophisticated harmonic shifts and real cantabile tunes. Kilar's romanticism is one I really can relate to. Also like his other scores like 9th gate or death and the maiden. Great you’re bringing him up!


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