Label:	Sony Music Poland
Cat No:	8869-786704-2

Requiem for my friend is in two parts.

The first part - Requiem - is in nine movements and is scored for soprano, organ, two countertenors, tenor, bass, string quintet and percussion. It was recorded in Warsaw Cathedral and the Emaus Church in Krakow.

The second part - Life - is also in nine movements and is scored for soprano, voice, countertenor, recorder, alto saxophone, piano, sixty-piece orchestra and forty-piece choir. It was recorded in Studio S2/S4 of Polish Radio, Warsaw and the Emaus Church in Krakow.

The recording features the Polish soprano Elzbieta Towarnicka, whose singing is a trademark of Preisner's scores for La Double Vie de Veronique, Three Colours Blue and Three Colours Red - the major films by Krzysztof Kieslowski. The orchestra is the Sinfonia Varsovia, the choir is the Varsov Chamber Choir and the conductor is Jacek Kaspszyk. Featured soloists include recorder-player Jacek Ostaszewski, pianist Leszek Mozdzer, saxophonist Jerzy Glowczewski, and singer Dorota Slezak.

The world premiere took place in Warsaw on 1st October 1998 at the Teatr Wielki. The performance in Warsaw was made with the choir and orchestra of the Sinfonia Varsovia and the soloists featured on the album. The world premiere was supported by the Polish cellular phone company Plus GSM.

The UK premiere took place on 19th March 1999 at the Royal Festival Hall, London. The performance in London was with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the soloists featured on the album.

Part One was performed by soloists from the Institut de Musique Sacré de Lyon on 27th March 2002 at the Abbaye d'Ainay, Lyon.

Three performances took place in Scandinavia in the autumn of 2004. The Malmö University Orchestra and Choir, conducted by Daniel Hansson, with guest soprano Eliana Pretorian, presented the Swedish and Danish premieres: on 5th November 2004 at the Church of St. Pauli, Malmweden; on 6th November 2004 at the Church of Gustav Adolf, Helsingborg, Sweden; and on 7th November at the Frederikskirke, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The next performance of Requiem for my friend will be by the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ori Leshman, on 23rd October 2005 at the Haifa International Film Festival. The Dutch premiere will take place on 31st October 2005 at the Westerkerk, Amsterdam, with an additional performance on 1st November 2005 at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. Both concerts in Amsterdam are performed by the Sinfonia Baltica and the Camerata Silesia conducted by Bohdan Jarmolowicz, and will feature the Polish soloists who recorded the album with Preisner in 1998.

"Once, we had a joint conception to create a concert telling a life story. The premiere was planned to take place on the Acropolis in Athens. It was intended to be a large event, a hybrid of a mystery play and an opera. Krzysztof Kieslowski would be the director, Krzysztof Piesiewicz was responsible for the script, and I was planning to compose the music.

"Once, we thought it might be the first of a series of musical performances, to be developed in various interesting places around the world in the next few years. But it was life that authored a different ending: Krzysztof Kieslowski died on 13th March 1996. The first part of Requiem for my friend is meant as a farewell to Krzysztof Kieslowski. I dedicate this music to him".

Zbigniew Preisner