“After a long and serious illness, my husband died Jan AP Kaczmarek. He was a warrior until the end, trusting that he would recover and share his works with us… I stayed with him until the end. He died surrounded by love. The value in which he believed most strongly,” said the artist's wife, Aleksandra Twardowska-Kaczmarek.
She published information about the death of the 71-year-old musician Polish Music Foundationwhich helped the ailing composer.
One of the most outstanding Polish film music composers had been suffering from MSA, i.e. multiple system atrophy, for some time. There is no cure for this disease yet. You can only slow down the havoc it wreaks on your body. The disease leads to the destruction of nerve endings and ultimately to lung failure.
In early 2023 Anastasia Davis (the musician's daughter from his first marriage) started a collection for further treatment and care of the ailing composer.
“My dad is unable to move on his own and requires the help of his wife and two caregivers to perform basic tasks such as getting out of bed and getting dressed. The disease damages the nerve endings until his lungs fail. It is a horror for us as a family to watch this amazing man is fighting an unequal fight,” wrote Anastazja Davis at the time.
Aleksandra Twardowska-Kaczmarek in May 2023, she said that although the artist has problems with movement, his “head still functions perfectly.” “Jan has not lost any of his brilliance, he still has an incredible mind,” she said in an interview with the Polish Press Agency.
The composer created music for over seventy films, including: “Unfaithful” by Adrian Lyne, “Aimee and Jaguar” by Max Fareberbock, “Lost Souls” by Janusz Kamiński. In 2005 he was awarded Oscar for composing the soundtrack to the film “Finding Neverland” by Marc Forster.
In recent years he has composed music, among others: down “Valleys of the Gods” by Lech Majewski (2019), “Magnesia” by Maciej Bochniak (2020), “The Death of Zygielbojm” by Ryszard Brylski (2021) and “Van Gogh” by Daniel Fridell.