Polish Film Music?
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< What’s the name of that Polish pianist/composer you’ve sometimes mentioned, TG? Wej-something.>
Sorry for the delay, haven’t visited this post for a while..
Mieczysław (“Moisey”) Weinberg. Or Mojsze Wajnberg. Or Moisei Vainberg. Wonderful composer, but one who hardly appears in any musical encyclopaedia, even those which are inches thick. He was catapulted into my top echelon of composers after picking up several of his symphonies on Naxos.
Given his close relationship with Shostakovich (who literally put his life on the line for him at one stage) I was surprised that I wasn’t really aware of him from the many books I have about the letter’s life and times.
He also wrote a few film scores, chief amongst them Kalatozov’s excellent soviet anti-war film from 1957, The Cranes Are Flying.
That’s it! Sounds like an interesting fellow. Do you know if he wrote any film music? Not that it’s important or anything, I’m sure he’s a great composer regardless.
He did indeed live an eventful life. When the Nazis invaded Poland, the rest of his family headed west and, being Jewish, were murdered in the camps. He headed East and ended up, with Shostakovich’s help, in Moscow.
Stalin jailed him as part of the notorious Doctors’ Plot, and was only released after Stalin’s death. During his incarceration, Shostakovich wrote to Beria – Beria! – demanding his friend’s freedom, a step which could easily have led to his own death.
Musicologist David Fanning wrote a very good biography of Weinberg, “In Search of Freedom”.
Some recommended works:
Symphonies 1, 3, 8, 12
Violin Concerto
Cello Concerto
Sonata no. 5 for piano and violinBy the way, Thor – listen to Weinberg’s Cello Concerto and see if it brings Schindler’s List to mind!
I’m not pointing the finger at JW, because I’m sure both pieces have common roots in Jewish music. It just struck me whilst listening to it this afternoon.
I’m not pointing the finger at JW, because I’m sure both pieces have common roots in Jewish music. It just struck me whilst listening to it this afternoon.
Peeked a bit at the beginning as the composer was unknown to me. Yes, the sound is there for sure. I think its the roots because works like Bruch’s Schelomo or Bloch’s Kol Nidrei you surely know also have that sound.
By the way, Thor – listen to Weinberg’s Cello Concerto and see if it brings Schindler’s List to mind!
Interesting, I’ll give it a go. I’m well aware that the SCHINDLER’S LIST theme didn’t come out of a vacuum, but is very much based on Jewish folk music, which presumably Weinberg used as a reference as well. Interesting that this was brought up just as Nick posted about ENEMY AT THE GATES in the “What are you listening to?” thread, which of course has that SCHINDLER reference up front and center (I still like it).
I have Schelomo on CD but haven’t heard it for many years, thanks for the reminder!
Also haven’t seen or heard Enemy at the Gates for too long. I shouldn’t really be on a film music message board…. There probably isn’t a klezmer music forum, though. At least, not in English.
Been sporadically rewatching X-FILES on Disney+, and in the episode “3” (S02E07, aired November 4, 1994), a vampire-centric story, there’s a femme fatale character named “Kristen Kilar” – a reference to Wojciech Kilar relatively hot off of the success of BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA (1992). I thought that was a cute ‘easter egg’. Not often you see film composer references like this. Couldn’t hear any references in Snow’s music, though.
there’s a femme fatale character named “Kristen Kilar” – a reference to Wojciech Kilar
Are you sure this was a film composer reference? Or maybe they just chose the name because it sounds so beautifully much like “killer”?
Could be both. Sounds like too much of a coincidence, though, to be random. Two years after the Coppola film, and a story about vampires. X-Files Wiki seems to think so too. But who knows?
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