The author of ten operas and more than one hundred symphonic, chamber, and solo works. His early output was inspired by the paintings of Władysław Strzemiński and became known as unistic music. It later turned to folk art for inspiration before becoming more expressive in subsequent decades. In works such as Tableau Vivant (martial law in Poland), Arabesque (the war in Algeria), De ira, de dolore (the war in Ukraine), Exodus (migration from Africa), and, above all, Children’s Requiem, dedicated to the children killed in wars and armed conflicts of the twenty-first century, Krauze portrays human and social tragedy while giving voice to opposition to aggression throughout the world.
He was Professor of Composition at the Academy of Music in Łódź and at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, as well as Visiting Professor at Yale University and ESMUC (Barcelona), and Eminent Corresponding Professor at Keimyung University (Daegu). As a pianist, he has appeared throughout Europe, the Americas, and Asia, giving recitals featuring new music and performing his piano concertos with orchestras. In 1967, he founded the Music Workshop ensemble, with which he toured three continents for more than twenty-five years.