Source: www.gintrowski.art.pl
The Polish composer, musician and man behind Andrzej Wajda's Man of Iron has passed away at the age of 61
Przemysław Gintrowski was born in Stargard in 1952, yet he spent most of his life in Warsaw, where he studied and then began a career in music. In 1968 he founded a band that did covers of popular rock songs of the time and set the words of Polish poets to music. In 1976 he made a name for himself at the Student Song Festival in Warsaw and won first prize. In 1979 he and some fellow musicians Jacek Kaczmarski and Zbigniew Łapiński founded a trio that was dedicated to setting the causes of Solidarity to music. One year later he won another contest in Opole, then in Wrocław.
Fellow songwriter and poet Marek Gałązka reflected on his contributions to Polish music, calling him "one of the people who created the most wildly important trends in Polish music and culture" and calling his music, "great, even revolutionary" which served as form of "soulful support" for the opposition. During the Martial Law period, he gave concerts at home. He also began composing scores for such significant cinema directors as Wajda or comedy director Bareja, as well as for the theatre. His music was emotional and beautiful, a fond souvenir of the music of decades past. In 2006 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Poland Reborn.
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: PAP