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Zbigniew Preisner
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{{short description|Polish film score composer|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{Infobox person | image = Zbigniew_Preisner.JPG | imagesize = 200px | caption = Preisner in 2011 | name = Zbigniew Preisner | birth_name = Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|5|20|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Bielsko-Biała]], [[People's Republic of Poland|Poland]] | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | nationality = Polish | occupation = composer | yearsactive = 1981 – present | website = {{url|http://www.preisner.com}} }} '''Zbigniew Preisner''' ({{IPA|pol|ˈzbiɡɲɛf ˈprajsnɛr|lang}}; born 20 May 1955 as '''Zbigniew Antoni Kowalski''')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rmf.fm/muzyka/biografia,1601,Zbigniew,Preisner.html|title=:: Muzyka :: RMF FM|website=www.rmf.fm}}</ref> is a Polish [[film score]] [[composer]], best known for his work with [[film director]] [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]]. He is the recipient of the Gold [[Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis]] as well as the Knight's Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]]. He is a member of the [[Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma|French Film Academy]].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://culture.pl/en/artist/zbigniew-preisner |title=Zbigniew Preisner - Biography | access-date = 12 February 2022}}</ref> ==Life== Zbigniew Preisner was born in [[Bielsko-Biała]], southern Poland, and studied history and philosophy at the [[Jagiellonian University]] in [[Kraków]]. Never having received formal music lessons, he taught himself music by listening and transcribing parts from [[vinyl record|record]]s. His compositional style represents a distinctively sparse form of [[tonality|tonal]] [[neo-Romantic]]ism. [[Paganini]] and [[Jean Sibelius]] are acknowledged influences.<ref name=musicolog/> ==Career== Preisner is best known for the music composed for the films directed by fellow Pole Krzysztof Kieślowski. His ''Song for the Unification of Europe'', based on the Greek text of [[1 Corinthians 13]], is attributed to a character in Kieślowski's ''[[Three Colors: Blue]]'' and plays a dominating role in the story. His music for ''[[Three Colors: Red]]'' includes a setting of [[Polish People's Republic|Polish]] and French versions of a poem by [[Wisława Szymborska]], a Polish [[Nobel Prize]]-winning poet.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://culture.pl/en/artist/zbigniew-preisner |title=Zbigniew Preisner |access-date=2019-09-24}}</ref> After working with Kieślowski on ''[[Three Colors: Blue]]'', Preisner was hired by the producer [[Francis Ford Coppola]] to write the score for ''[[The Secret Garden (1993 movie)|The Secret Garden]]'', directed by Polish director [[Agnieszka Holland]]. Although Preisner is most closely associated with Kieślowski, he has collaborated with several other directors, winning a [[César Award|César]] in 1996 for his work on [[Jean Becker (director)|Jean Becker]]'s ''[[Élisa (1995 film)|Élisa]]''. He has won a number of other awards, including another César in 1994 for ''[[Three Colors: Red]]'', and the [[Silver Bear]] from the [[47th Berlin International Film Festival]] 1997 for ''[[The Island on Bird Street (film)|The Island on Bird Street]]''.<ref name="Berlinale">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1997/03_preistr_ger_1997/03_Preistraeger_1997.html |title=Berlinale: 1997 Prize Winners |access-date=2012-01-08 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> He was nominated for [[Golden Globe]] awards for his scores for ''[[Three Colors: Blue]]'' (1993) and [[At Play in the Fields of the Lord]] (1991). In 1998, ''[[Requiem for my friend (Preisner)|Requiem for My Friend]]'', Preisner's first large scale work not written for film, premiered. It was originally intended as a narrative work to be written by [[Krzysztof Piesiewicz]] and directed by Kieślowski, but it became a memorial to Kieślowski after the director's death. The ''Lacrimosa'' from this Requiem appears in [[Terrence Malick]]'s ''[[The Tree of Life (film)|The Tree of Life]]''. The ''Dies Irae'' from this Requiem appears in the film ''[[La Grande Bellezza]]'', directed by [[Paolo Sorrentino]]<ref name=allmusic>{{cite web|title=The Great Beauty |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-great-beauty-la-grande-bellezza-mw0002618733|access-date=April 2, 2015|work=Allmusic}}</ref> and in the second season of the television series ''[[The Crown (TV series)|The Crown]]''.<ref name=Tunefind>{{cite web|title=The Crown |url=https://www.tunefind.com/show/the-crown/season-2/55050|access-date=December 30, 2017|work=Tunefind}}</ref> Preisner composed the theme music for the ''[[People's Century]]'', a monumental 26-part [[documentary film|documentary]] made jointly in 1994 by the [[BBC]] television network in United Kingdom and the [[Public Broadcasting Service|PBS]] television network in the United States. He has also worked with director [[Thomas Vinterberg]] on the 2003 film ''[[It's All About Love]]''. He provided orchestration for [[David Gilmour]]'s 2006 album ''[[On An Island]]'' as well as additional orchestrations for the show at [[Gdańsk shipyards]] at which he also conducted the Baltic Philharmonic Orchestra, this was documented on the album ''[[Live in Gdańsk]]'' (2008). ''Silence, Night and Dreams'' is Zbigniew Preisner's new recording project, a large-scale work for orchestra, choir and soloists, based on texts from the [[Book of Job]]. The premier recording, was released in 2007 with the lead singer of [[Madredeus]], [[Teresa Salgueiro]] and boy soprano Thomas Cully from [[Libera (choir)|Libera]].<ref>emiclassics.com [http://www.emiclassics.com/releaseabout.php?rid=45269 Silence, Night and Dreams release info]</ref> ==Van den Budenmayer== Van den Budenmayer is a fictitious 17th-century Dutch composer created by Preisner and director [[Krzysztof Kieślowski]] for attributions in screenplays.<ref name=musicolog>{{cite web|last=musicolog.com |title=Zbigniew Preisner |url=http://www.musicolog.com/preisner.asp }}</ref> Preisner said Van den Budenmayer is a pseudonym he and [[Krzysztof Kieślowski|Kieślowski]] invented "because we both loved the Netherlands". Music "by" the Dutch composer plays a role in three [[Krzysztof Kieślowski|Kieślowski]] films. The first is ''[[Dekalog]]'' (1988). The second is ''[[Three Colours: Blue]]'' (1993) in which a theme from his ''musique funebres'' is quoted in the ''Song for the Unification of Europe''. Its E minor soprano solo prefigured in the earlier film ''[[The Double Life of Veronique]]'' (1991), where circumstances in the story prevent the solo from finishing. The third is ''[[Three Colours: Red]]'' (1994).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Greiving |first=Tim |title=Under the Sign of Sadness: Zbigniew Preisner's Three Colors Scores |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8063-under-the-sign-of-sadness-zbigniew-preisners-three-colors-scores |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=The Criterion Collection |language=en}}</ref><ref> {{ cite video | people=Krzysztof Kieślowski | year=2003 | chapter=A Discussion on Working with Kieślowski | title=Trois Couleurs: Blanc | medium=DVD extra | publisher=Miramax | location=Burbank CA | volume= <!-- Disk 1 of 1 --> | time=15:12–17:32 | isbn=0-7888-4146-7 | quote=They had this private joke about – well it wasn't that private because they put it into the films – about a composer, Van Budenmayer. [sic] (Geoff Andrew) It was like a red little thread, as we say in French, you know, that we – a little something we can see in many films. (Irène Jacob) It was for ''Dekalog'' number nine, where the secondary character of Ola, a beautiful young woman who is about to have elective heart surgery tells the doctor that she sings the music of Van den Budenmayer. And in the next scene, you see the doctor listening to the album of this music, which, by the way, in the screenplay, was not Van den Budenmayer at all. It was Mahler, or something. In other words, this was after the script was written that they started to have fun with the fictive Van den Budenmayer, a Dutch composer. Well, after that they started getting letters of people asking, 'Who is Van den Budenmayer? How can I buy his music? Does it exist on cassette?' So what did they do? They brought him back in ''The Double Life of Véronique''. (Annette Insdorf) I really like this piece. It's by a very interesting composer. He was discovered only recently...although he lived in Holland over two centuries ago. (film excerpt subtitles) And then he's mentioned in ''Blue''; the character of Julie says to Olivier that she has this memento that was supposed to invoke Van den Budenmayer. (Insdorf) He told me: 'It's a memento.' Try weaving it back in. Van den Budenmayer? (film excerpt subtitles) ''White'' is the only one where Van den Budenmayer doesn't make a direct appearance, but he comes back forcefully in ''Red'' in a number of ways. (Insdorf) I'd like number 432. Van den Budenmayer. Did I pronounce it right? Yes. This one? (film excerpt subtitles) We even see a picture of him. Of course he didn't exist. It was just this little joke they had between them. (Andrew) At the New York Film Festival press conference, um, Kieślowski had a great time telling the story – and I was translating – of how he's now gotten letters from an encyclopedia, I think it is, telling him that he must cease and desist from using the music of Van den Budenmayer without paying royalties to the estate, or else they might be sued. He thinks this is utterly hilarious because there is no Van den Budenmayer, but they've been way too persuasive in suggesting that there is one. (Insdorf) | ref=White-DVD-extra }}</ref> ==Works== === Orchestral works === * ''[[Requiem for my friend (Preisner)|Requiem for my friend]]'' (1998) * ''Life'' (1998) * ''Silence, Night and Dreams'' (2007) * ''[[On an Island]]'' (2006) (a [[David Gilmour]] album for which Preisner composed orchestrations for many tracks) * ''[[Live in Gdańsk]]'' (September 22, 2008) (a David Gilmour live album) * ''Diaries Of Hope'' (2013) * ''[[Rattle That Lock]]'' (2015) (another David Gilmour album for which Preisner provided orchestrations) ===Music for solo instruments=== * ''[[10 Easy Pieces for Piano]]'' (2000)<br />Performed by [[Leszek Możdżer]] * ''10 Pieces for Orchestra'' (2015) <br />Performed by The Symphonic Orchestra of the Calisia Philharmonic ===Theatre=== *''Das Begräbnis (The Funeral)'' (2010)<br/> a play by [[Thomas Vinterberg]] and [[Mogens Rukov]] ===Film scores=== *''[[Prognoza pogody]]'' (1981) *''[[Bez konca]]'' (1985) *''[[Lubie nietoperze]]'' (1986) *''[[Przez dotyk]]'' (1986) *''[[The Lullabye]]'' (1987) *''[[Ucieczka]]'' (1987) *''[[To Kill a Priest]]'' (1988) *''[[A Short Film About Killing]]'' (1988) *''[[A Short Film About Love]]'' (1988) *''[[Kocham kino]]'' (1988) *''[[Dekalog]]'' (1988-9) *''[[Ostatni dzwonek]]'' (1989) *''[[Europa Europa]]'' (1990) *''[[Eminent Domain (film)|Eminent Domain]]'' (1991) *''[[The Double Life of Véronique]]'' (1991) *''[[At Play in the Fields of the Lord]]'' (1991) *''[[Zwolnieni z zycia]]'' (1992) *''[[Olivier, Olivier]]'' (1992) *''[[Damage (1992 film)|Damage]]'' (1992) *''[[Three Colors: Blue]]'' (1993) *''[[The Secret Garden (1993 film)|The Secret Garden]]'' (1993) *''[[On the Edge of the Horizon]]'' (1993) *''[[Desire in Motion]] (Mouvements du désir)'' (1994) *''[[Kouarteto se 4 kiniseis]]'' (1994) *''[[Three Colors: White]]'' (1994) *''[[When a Man Loves a Woman (film)|When a Man Loves a Woman]]'' (1994) *''[[Three Colors: Red]]'' (1994) *''[[Feast of July]]'' (1995) *''[[Élisa (1995 film)|Élisa]]'' (1995) *''[[Foolish Heart (1998 film)|Foolish Heart]]'' (1996) *''[[FairyTale: A True Story]]'' (1997) *''[[The Island on Bird Street (film)|The Island on Bird Street]]'' (1997) *''[[The Last September (film)|The Last September]]'' (1999) *''[[Dreaming of Joseph Lees]]'' (1999) *''[[Aberdeen (2000 film)|Aberdeen]]'' (2000) *''[[Weiser (film)|Weiser]]'' (2001) *''[[Between Strangers]]'' (2002) *''[[It's All About Love]]'' (2003) *''[[Strange Gardens]]'' (2003) *''[[Kolysanka]]'' (2003) *''[[SuperTex]]'' (2003) *''[[The Beautiful Country]]'' (2004) *''[[Sportsman of the Century]]'' (2006) *''[[Anonyma - Eine Frau in Berlin]]'' (2008) *''[[The Tree of Life (film)|The Tree of Life]]'' (2011) (1 track) *''[[Aglaja (film)|Aglaja]]'' (2012) *''[[La grande bellezza]]'' (2013) (1 track) *''[[Lost and Love]]'' (2015) *''[[Lies We Tell]]'' (2017) *''[[Valley of Shadows (2017 film)|Valley of Shadows]]'' (2017) *''[[Man of God (2021 film)|Man of God]]'' (2021) ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.preisner.com/ Zbigniew Preisner official site] * [http://www.intershow.eu Representative company of Zbigniew Preisner in Greece and Cyprus] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070325203646/http://www.omcea.be/385109,zbigniew,preisner/ Interview with Preisner] with director Edoardo Ponti. * {{Musicbrainz artist|id=d229ee11-fc4e-4a1c-8e0a-1e8f84950532|name=Zbigniew Preisner}} * {{IMDb name|id=0006237|name=Zbigniew Preisner}} * [http://www.cmusic.tv/watchvideo/341 Television Interview with Preisner] from C Music TV. * [http://www.musicolog.com/preisner.asp Preisner İnfo] from musicolog.com. {{César Award for Best Original Music}} {{Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Music}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Preisner, Zbigniew}} [[Category:1955 births]] [[Category:20th-century Polish classical composers]] [[Category:21st-century Polish classical composers]] [[Category:EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Polish male film score composers]] [[Category:Musicians from Bielsko-Biała]] [[Category:Polish film score composers]] [[Category:Polish male classical composers]] [[Category:20th-century Polish male musicians]] [[Category:21st-century Polish male musicians]] [[Category:César Award winners]]
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