Przemysław Gintrowski (21 December 1951 - 20 October 2012) was a Polish composer and musician.
Gintrowski debuted in 1976 on a review of the Warsaw Riviera with the song "Epitaph for Sergei Yesenin" youtube.com/watch?v=5ADwzz-w68I Shortly afterwards, in 1979, he formed a trio with Jacek Kaczmarski and Zbigniew £apiński, and initiated a poetic programme "Mury" ("Walls") - youtube.com/watch?v=sijYEf4-vGQ&feature=related
The title song of the programme, "Mury", based on the song written by Catalan bard Lluis Llach L'Estaca - has become an informal anthem of "Solidarity" and the symbol of the fight against the regime. Another program they've created is "Raj" and "Museum".
With the declaration of martial law in December 1981 Trio broke up - Jacek Kaczmarski remained in exile in France, and Gintrowski started his own artistic activity. He made his debut as a composer of film music - during the next ten years he created music for over twenty fictional films and serials.
Ginstrowski's songs based on texts by Jacek Kaczmarski, Zbigniew Herbert, Tomasz Jastrun, Krzysztof Maria Sieniawski, Jerzy Czech, Tadeusz Nowak and Marek Tercz. For several years he did not record their own songs, although he still composes for other artists and prepares music for films. Gintrowski announced he will record another album entitled "Kanapka z człowiekiem" ("Sandwich with a man") that would contain older material in new developments as well as some brand new songs. On August 31, 2006 he was awarded by President Lech Kaczyński with The Order of Polonia Restituta.
another version of "Mury" youtube.com/watch?v=FVPJ01HsM2U&feature=related Jean Michel Jarre
Has an English translation of 'Mury' ever been recorded? 'Rip the bars right off the wall, break the whip, throw your shackles down, and the walls will all start crumbling, tumbling right down to the ground.'
Thanks for the link. Kaczmarski sang much better than I could, but I regard my translation of the refrain as superior to the unsingable subtitles which completely ingore the rhythm of the melody.
"These were the songs that gave us courage and strength to act. This was our form of protest against sad reality of PRL" - said Krzysztof Kwiatkowski in the TVN24 program "Kawa na ławę". This is how he recalled singer and composer Przemyslaw Gintrowski who died last Saturday. Another guest of Bogdan Rymanowski, Jacek Kurski, sang to the sounds of the guitar one of the artist's songs.
