Polish composer Penderecki dies at 86 after long illness

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Reuters
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Penderecki won four Grammy awards for his music, most recently for best choral performance in 2016 / REUETRS

Poland’s Krzysztof Penderecki, one of the world’s most celebrated composers, died on Sunday at the age of 86, said state-controlled news agency PAP.

“After a long and serious illness, Krzysztof Penderecki - one of the greatest Polish musicians, a world authority in the field of classical music died,” Poland’s Ministry of Culture said in a tweet.

Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, for his Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima and the largely atonal St Luke’s Passion.

He won four Grammy awards for his music, most recently for best choral performance in 2016.