Caldera Records proudly presents Zbigniew Preisner's score for Soren Kragh-Jacobson’s “The Island on Bird Street.”

A young boy named Alex lives with his father and a friend of the family, whom Alex with great affection calls Uncle, in a Polish ghetto at the height of the Second World War. The young boy is an immediate witness to the cruelty of the Nazi officers who use every opportunity to humiliate both his father and his so-called uncle. Though he may not be able to articulate it, Alex knows that his childhood has ended, cut short by fascists who made it their mission to eradicate people like him and his family.

How do you grow up in an environment of threats, danger, and humiliation? Quickly.

“The Island on Bird Street,” released in 1997, tells the story of Alex’ survival. Following the arrest of his father and his uncle, he has to fend for himself in the rubble that is his playground of death.

Zbigniew Preisner received a Silver Bear at the Berlinale for his music in the film. It is indeed one of his grandest achievements. The director and his composer were careful to avoid the usual cliches in films about the horrors of the Holocaust. Thus, “The Island on Bird Street” doesn’t feature any instruments or orchestral colours that could be deemed ethnic. Instead, it is a both aggressive and tender meditation for large orchestra with solo instruments that get their chance to shine.

The piano – and the harp, which also features prominently in the music – proved a particularly fitting choice since their fragility captured Alex’s situation and his fear, the fragility of his existence within the tragedy of the Second World War. Moreover, the pieces for piano and harp can be viewed as a depiction of the nobility of Alex’s spirit. Throughout the horror of the war, the young boy doesn’t lose his humanity. He remains firmly himself, adept at escaping danger and resolute in his stance to oppose the enemy and pray for the return of his father.

The danger is expressed in aggressive, suspenseful, and propulsive pieces for full orchestra and a male voice. The staccato strings and relentless percussion add to the tension on the screen and make clear the harrowing circumstances of Alex’s existence in the rubble of Warsaw. That way, “The Island on Bird Street” is a score of two halves: one fittingly captures the brutality of the regime; one expresses the fragility of Alex’s situation.

For the album, Zbigniew Preisner assembled shorter cues into more extended suites that reveal new facets of his composition. Their context is now different. It is as if a whole new work has emerged.

The 68th CD-release of Caldera Records features a detailed booklet text by Stephan Eicke and elegant artwork by Luis Miguel Rojas. The CD was mastered by Zbigniew Preisner and produced by Stephan Eicke and Zbigniew Preisner.

C6068

Music Composed and Produced by Zbigniew Preisner
CD Produced by Stephan Eicke
Executive Producers for Caldera Records: John Elborg, Stephan Eicke
Album Art Direction and Design by Luis Miguel Rojas

Listen to the sound clips by clicking on the links below

Part I Separation from the Family (6:33)
Part II Empty Street (6:55)
Part III Escaping the Ultimate Solution (8:30)
Part IV Dream (1:53)
Part V The Final Stage of the Fight for Life (13:15)
Part VI The Island on Bird Street (4:23)