
Zbigniew Preisner
- Known for
- Sound
- Born
- May 20, 1955
- Birthplace
- Bielsko-Biala, Slaskie, Poland
Zbigniew Preisner (born 20 May 1955) is a Polish film score composer, best known for his work with film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. 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 and French versions of a poem by Wisława Szymborska, a Polish Nobel Prize-winning poet. 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, directed by Polish director Agnieszka Holland. Although Preisner is most closely associated with Kieślowski, he has collaborated with several other directors, winning a César in 1996 for his work on Jean Becker's 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. 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'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. The Dies Irae from this Requiem appears in the film La Grande Bellezza, directed by Paolo Sorrentino. Preisner composed the theme music for the People's Century, a monumental twenty-six part documentary made jointly in 1994 by the BBC television network in United Kingdom and the 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.
Filmography

Requiem TBA
Songs

Postscriptum. Ruminations on My Craft 2026
Music

Parallel Tales 2026
Original Music Composer

Europa Centrale 2024
Original Music Composer

Haunted Heart 2024
Original Music Composer

Stimulants & Empathogens 2024
Assistant Property Master

Aprilis 2023
Music

Man of God 2021
Original Music Composer

Dear Child 2020
Music

Memories of My Father 2020
Original Music Composer

Mother Didn't Know 2020
Music

Lies We Tell 2018
Music, Original Music Composer

Angelica 2017
Original Music Composer

Valley of Shadows 2017
Music

David Gilmour - Live At Pompeii (Bonus Wroclaw 2016) 2017
Actor

The Queen of Spain 2016
as Otto Von Fischer, Original Music Composer

David Gilmour - Live in Wroclaw 2016 2016
as Self

My Hindu Friend 2016
Original Music Composer

Lady of the Dynasty 2015
Original Music Composer

Lost and Love 2015
Original Music Composer

The History of Eternity 2014
Original Music Composer

Aglaya 2012
Original Music Composer

The Tree of Life 2011
Songs

A Woman in Berlin 2008
Original Music Composer

A Secret 2007
Music

Sportsman of the Century 2006
Music

Still Alive: A Film About Krzysztof Kieslowski 2006
as Self

Harry's Daughters 2005
Music

The Beautiful Country 2004
Original Music Composer

Strange Gardens 2003
Original Music Composer

It's All About Love 2003
Original Music Composer

Between Strangers 2002
Original Music Composer

Weiser 2001
Music

Aberdeen 2000
Original Music Composer

The Last September 2000
Original Music Composer

Dreaming of Joseph Lees 1999
Original Music Composer

Foolish Heart 1998
Original Music Composer

FairyTale: A True Story 1997
Original Music Composer

The Island on Bird Street 1997
Original Music Composer

Feast of July 1995
Original Music Composer

Élisa 1995
Original Music Composer

Three Colors: Red 1994
Original Music Composer

When a Man Loves a Woman 1994
Original Music Composer

Three Colors: White 1994
Original Music Composer

Desire in Motion 1994
Original Music Composer

On the Edge of the Horizon 1993
Music

Three Colors: Blue 1993
Original Music Composer

The Secret Garden 1993
Original Music Composer

Damage 1992
Original Music Composer

Dismissed From Life 1992
Music

Olivier, Olivier 1992
Music

At Play in the Fields of the Lord 1991
Original Music Composer

The Double Life of Véronique 1991
Original Music Composer

Eminent Domain 1991
Music

Kieslowski: Dialogue 1991
Music

Europa Europa 1990
Original Music Composer

City Life 1990
Music

The Last Boat 1990
Music

The Last Schoolbell 1989
Music

Decalogue V 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue VI 1989
Original Music Composer, Conductor

Decalogue I 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue II 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue III 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue IV 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue X 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue VII 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue VIII 1989
Original Music Composer

Decalogue IX 1989
Original Music Composer

I Love Cinema 1988
Original Music Composer

To Kill a Priest 1988
Songs

A Short Film About Love 1988
Original Music Composer

A Short Film About Killing 1988
Original Music Composer

On The Run 1987
Music

Przez dotyk 1986
Music
- Will There Be a War
Will There Be a War 1986
Music

I Like Bats 1986
Original Music Composer

The Lullaby 1986
Music

No End 1985
Original Music Composer

The Weather Forecast 1983
Music
- Psychoterapia
Psychoterapia 1983
Music
Credits from TMDB.