[Nicolai P. Zwar]

I was aware of Preisner of course in the 90s through films like DAMAGE and THE SECRET GARDEN. But what really put Preisner on the map for me was At Play in the Fields of the Lord, a wonderful (at least that’s what I think) epic movie with a beautiful movie score. The movie was produced by Saul Zaentz (who always strived for excellence in his productions), but must hang in some nightmarish rights limbo, because even though it was a well crafted (by Hector Babenco) movie with considerable star power (Tom Berenger, John Lithgow, Kathy Bates, Darryl Hannah, Tom Waits, Aidan Quinn) it has been curiously absent from home video for most of its life. Hardly anyone knows about this movie, let alone have seen it. It’s never even been released on Bluray, though it’s certainly worthy of a 4K restauration (I saw it in its theatrical run, I remember it as a quite beautiful movie).
Anyway, Preisner composed that score, and it took me quite a while to fill that gap in my soundtrack collection. I finally managed a few years ago to obtain a copy.