Krzesimir Dębski


Krzesimir Marcin Dębski is a Polish composer, conductor and jazz violinist. His music career as a musician has been that of a performer as well as composer of classical music, opera, television and feature films. In 2024, he became the recipient of the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture.
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Professional career

Dębski was born in 1953 in Wałbrzych and began attending a music school in Kielce at the age of six. He subsequently studied composition with Andrzej Koszewski, and conducting with Witold Krzemieński, at the Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań, Poland. Following graduation, Dębski became interested in jazz. Since 1982, as the leader and violinist of the jazz group String Connection, he has performed in the United States, Canada and over 25 countries in Europe.
In 1986 Dębski has cut down on his concert performances and concentrated primarily on composition. He has composed more than 60 symphonic and chamber music pieces, including an opera, 2 symphonies, religious works and 9 instrumental concertos. Since 1986, he has composed the music for over 70 films, received 8 platinum albums and has composed music for the highest-grossing movie in Polish film history, With Fire and Sword.
As deputy chairman of the Polish Association of Contemporary Music, Dębski has written music for film, theater, symphony, chamber orchestra and experimental ensembles. As a composer, he won the Fryderyk Award. He was also awarded the International Film Music Academy, coveted "Philip" prize presented to him by the legendary film composer, Ennio Morricone.
Krzesimir Dębski has conducted concerts in which the following international stars performed: José Carreras, Nigel Kennedy, Adam Makowicz, The Canadian Brass, Vadim Repin, Mark O’Connor, Jean-Luc Ponty, John Blake, Ewa Malas-Godlewska and José Cura.

Awards

Krzesimir Dębski has been awarded numerous prizes for his jazz musicianship and composition work. The prizes include a.o.: First Prize at the World Competition of Jazz Ensembles, and the Stanislaw Wyspiański Award from The Ministry of Culture. Readers of the monthly jazz magazine "Jazz Forum" have bestowed upon Dębski the honor of "Musician, Composer and Violinist Of The Year" from 1983 to 1986. In 1985, DownBeat magazine rated Krzesimir Dębski among the top ten violinists in the world.
In 1986, Dębski received First Prize at the 25th Anniversary Spring Festival of Music, a composers' competition in Poland. In 1988, the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television nominated Dębski for a Genie Award. The same year, he received a special award for his musical work with children from the Prime Minister of Poland. In 2000, he was awarded the Fryderyk Award in the Composer of the Year category.
In 2017, he was awarded the Pro Patria Medal. In 2020, he was granted the title of professor. In 2024, he received the Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture.

Personal life

Dębski's parents, Włodzimierz and Aniela, survived the Kisielin massacre of 1943 perpetrated by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army on the Polish civilian population of Volhynia and Eastern Galicia. His grandparents, Leopold and Anisia, who returned to the village after this event, were kidnapped by members of UPA and murdered. He is married to singer Anna Jurksztowicz with whom he has a son Radzimir, who is also a composer.

Krzesimir Dębski in the press

As a film composer he is much sought after, and for most music lovers his name is associated with that area of activity. He has recently written music for screen versions of many masterpieces of Polish literature; he also composes for Hollywood.
All the same, he has not abandoned classical music, the writing of which he still regards as his most important creative task. "I have worked in nearly all the fields of the music world," he said in an interview for the "Studio" monthly in 1999; "rock men greet me as a rock musician, jazzmen - as a jazzman, still others - as a film composer. But I am personally convinced that classical music is my proper domain. I dedicate about 80 per cent of my time, or more in some periods, to the composition of contemporary classical music. Unfortunately, the world of contemporary music is so small that at times I cannot help having the impression that I could easily suffocate in it. And, for that matter, I do not seem to be fully accepted in that world. ‘Oh, that's him,’ they say, ‘he's already been everywhere, done everything, does he really have to impose himself on us now?’ But I don't complain - I have many performances. So far, I have refrained from releasing my music on record, but now I'd like to announce some releases with my compositions. The "Warsaw Autumn" has never presented my works, but I hope to be found worthy of this honour when I celebrate my 80th birthday... . My pieces are performed every month, also frequently abroad. I feel happy that my works are played at usual philharmonic concerts, not only at festivals."
Krzesimir Dębski comments on Ukrainian nationalistic crimes in Volhynia, where his grandparents were murdered.

Selected compositions

Works for orchestra

Musica per archi – for string orchestraPassacaglia - improvisazioni – for symphony orchestraSynchromie - Dance Fantasy – for symphony orchestraThree Forms – for symphony orchestraMoment Musical – for symphony orchestraToccata – for symphony orchestraSinfonietta – for symphony orchestraPreludium - Interludium - Postludium – for string orchestraZyklus – for symphony orchestraTempi concertati – for string orchestraMusica Dominicana – for wind orchestraAutuminty – for symphony orchestra

Works for solo instruments with orchestra

Fantasy – for organ and symphony orchestra Impromptu – for violin, cello, piano and symphony orchestraSolo, duo, trio e orchestra – for violin, cello, piano and symphony orchestraConcerto for violin no. 1 – for violin and symphony orchestraConcerto for piano – for piano and symphony orchestraConcerto for French horn – for French horn and symphony orchestraConcerto per flauto dolce nr 1 – for flute and string orchestra Concerto for clarinet – for clarinet and string orchestraConcerto for flauto no. 2 – for flute and symphony orchestraConcerto for violin no. 2 – for violin and symphony orchestraDouble concerto – for violin, viola and symphony orchestra Notturno – for violin, viola and symphony orchestra Landscape – for clarinet and symphony orchestraQuasi una fantasia – for violin and string orchestra Sounds from Serengeti – for strings, oboe and string orchestra Concerto for cello – for cello and symphony orchestraSolemn Concerto – for trompet, organ and string orchestra Q + O – for quartett and symphony orchestraConcerto for Three Clarinets – for three clarinets and symphony orchestra

Vocal works

Oratorium Pie Jesu Domine – for soprano, tenor, mixed choir and symphony orchestraMissa puerorum – for boys choir, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, organ, percussion and string orchestraMissa brevis – for boys choir, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and organPsalmodia Paratum cor meum Deus – for mixed choir a cappellaLaudate Dominum – for female choir, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and organBiografioły – for 6 male voices 7 Songs – for soprano, tenor, female choir and symphony orchestraMisterium – for soprano, recitations, mixed choir and orchestraI Symfonia Nihil homine mirabilius – for mezzo-soprano, mixed choir and symphony orchestraII Symfonia Ver redit – for soprano, improviser, mixed choir and symphony orchestraForms – for voices, mixed choir and symphony orchestraPsalm nr 1 – for mixed choir and symphony orchestra3 songs Lux Aeterna – for mixed choir a cappellaCosmopolis – for mixed choir and symphony orchestra

Recordings (selection)

  • 1984 - TRIO
  • 1986 - String Connection Live in Warsaw
  • 1991 - Montreal Ballad
  • 1995 - The Choir
  • 1995 - Total Eclipse
  • 1996 - Blow Up
  • 1998 - Witaj Gwiazdo Złota
  • 1999 - Ogniem i mieczem - Platinum in Poland for over 200.000 sold copies
  • 2000 - Fuego
  • 2000 - Era of Love
  • 2002 - The Flute Concerto and The Two Stradivarius Concerto
  • 2004 - Symphony Nihil Homine Mirabilius
  • 2019 - ''Grooveoberek''

Film scores (selection)