Zbigniew Preisner - film composer

Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner started out by studying philosophy and history at the University of Krakow. It was only after graduating in these subjects that his interest in music took off, and he started to study music seriously. His self-taught, individual sound was noticed by film makers for its romantic nature and ephemeral often haunting melodies, and it wasn't long before he met director Krzysztof Kieslowski and script-writer Krzysztof Piesiewicz and scored their film "No End". The partnership then continued with "Decalogue", a 10-part TV drama series which won awards at Cannes, and "The Double Life of Veronique" which follows the strangely linked lives in Weronika in Poland and Veronique in Paris. Preisner sometimes scored these films using the pseudonym Van den Budenmayer, a fictitious Dutch composer. The partnership also created the film trilogy "The Three Colours".

When the director died in 1996, Preisner released his first large-scale orchestral work "Requiem for my Friend" in his honour. The composer's latest project is called "Silence, Night & Dreams". While an Album of this music had previously been released, the UK Premiere of the work was given at the Barbican Theatre in London on 2nd December 2007. For more information see out preview of Silence, Night & Dreams.

Films by Zbigniew Preisner:

• No End - the first film with director Krzysztof Kieslowski was about Poland under martial law
• The Double Life of Veronique - the soundtrack features Preisner's haunting music labelled as "Concerto in E Minor"
• Damage
• The Secret Garden
• At Play in the Fields of the Lord
• Three Colours: Blue - first of the "Three Colours" trilogy with Kieslowski
• Three Colours: White
• Three Colours: Red
• When a Man Loves a Woman
• Fairy Tale: A True Story
• The Last September
• Dreaming of Joseph Lees
• Aberdeen
• Between Strangers
• It's All about Love
• Beautiful Country
• A Secret - for director Claude Miller
• Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin - based on the author's diaries and recently released in Germany

Other Music (for TV and concert hall) by Zbigniew Preisner:

• Dekalog (or Decalogue) - 10-part series for Kieslowski
• Radetzky March - TV Mini-series
• Requiem for my Friend - following Kieslowski's death
• Silence, Night & Dreams - latest large-scale work for orchestra, chorus and soloists

Recommendations:

• Silence, Night and Dreams - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• The Secret Garden - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Requiem for my Friend - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Blue - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• White - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Red - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Fairy Tale: A True Story - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Preisner's Music - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
• Preisner: Kieslowski Krzysztof (a collection of Preisner's music for Krzystof's films) - from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com