Joseph Kosma
Biography
Joseph Kosma (22 October 1905 – 7 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer.
Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another was the conductor Georg Solti. He started to play the piano at age five, and later took piano lessons. At the age of 11, he wrote his first opera, Christmas in the Trenches. After completing his education at the Secondary Grammar School Franz-Josef, he attended the Academy of Music in Budapest, where he studied with Leo Weiner. He also studied with Béla Bartók at the Liszt Academy, receiving diplomas in composition and conducting. He won a grant to study in Berlin in 1928, where he met Lilli Apel, another musician, whom he later married. Kosma also met and studied with Hanns Eisler in Berlin. He became acquainted with Bertolt Brecht and Helene Weigel.
Kosma and his wife emigrated to Paris in 1933. Eventually, he met Jacques Prévert, who introduced him to Jean Renoir. During the 1930s Kosma teamed up with Prévert to set a number of Prévert's poems to music, and have them recorded by popular singers. Several of these were hits. Kosma also composed scores to Renoir's films including La Grande Illusion (1937), La Bête Humaine (The Human Beast, 1938), and La Règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game, 1939).
During World War II and the Occupation of France, Kosma was placed under house arrest in the Alpes-Maritimes region and was banned from composition. However, Prévert managed to arrange for Kosma to contribute music for films with other composers fronting for him. Under this arrangement, he wrote the "pantomime" of the music for Les Enfants du Paradis (1945), made under the occupation but released after the liberation. Among his other credits are the scores to Voyage Surprise (1946) and Le Testament du docteur Cordelier (The Doctor's Horrible Experiment, 1959), the last of which was made for television. He was also known for writing the standard classical-jazz piece "Les feuilles mortes" ("Autumn Leaves"), with French lyrics by Prévert and later English lyrics by Johnny Mercer, which was derived from music in Marcel Carné's film Les Portes de la Nuit (1946). The song was featured in the eponymous 1956 film starring Joan Crawford.
Source: Article "Joseph Kosma" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Acting (1 movie)
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| The Crime of Monsieur Lange | 1936 | Original Music Composer |
| Jenny | 1936 | Original Music Composer |
| Grand Illusion | 1937 | Original Music Composer |
| La Bête Humaine | 1938 | Original Music Composer |
| The Rules of the Game | 1939 | Original Music Composer |
| Adieu Léonard | 1943 | Original Music Composer |
| A Day in the Country | 1946 | Original Music Composer |
| Gates of the Night | 1946 | Original Music Composer |
| Love Around the House | 1947 | Original Music Composer |
| Noah's Ark | 1947 | Original Music Composer |
| Bethsabée | 1947 | Original Music Composer |
| The Eleven O'Clock Woman | 1948 | Original Music Composer |
| Man to Men | 1948 | Original Music Composer |
| Blood of the Beasts | 1949 | Original Music Composer |
| The Lovers of Verona | 1949 | Original Music Composer |
| Truant School | 1949 | Original Music Composer |
| Fugitive from Montreal | 1950 | Original Music Composer |
| Without Leaving an Address | 1951 | Original Music Composer |
| Juliette, or Key of Dreams | 1951 | Original Music Composer |
| Perfectionist | 1951 | Original Music Composer |
| The Green Glove | 1952 | Original Music Composer |
| Crimson Curtain | 1952 | Original Music Composer |
| Rhine Virgin | 1953 | Original Music Composer |
| No Exit | 1954 | Original Music Composer |
| Magic Village | 1955 | Original Music Composer |
| The Fugitives | 1955 | Original Music Composer |
| People of No Importance | 1956 | Original Music Composer |
| Goubbiah and the Gipsy Girl | 1956 | Original Music Composer |
| That Is the Dawn | 1956 | Original Music Composer |
| Main Street | 1956 | Original Music Composer |
| Soupçons | 1956 | Original Music Composer |
| The Case of Dr. Laurent | 1957 | Original Music Composer |
| Tamango | 1958 | Original Music Composer |
| A Certain Mr. Jo | 1958 | Original Music Composer |
| Picnic on the Grass | 1959 | Original Music Composer |
| Katia | 1959 | Original Music Composer |
| Experiment in Evil | 1960 | Original Music Composer |
| Love and the Frenchwoman | 1960 | Original Music Composer |
| Croesus | 1960 | Original Music Composer |
| The Elusive Corporal | 1962 | Original Music Composer |
| The Doll | 1962 | Original Music Composer |
| Thank Heaven for Small Favors | 1963 | Original Music Composer |
| In the French Style | 1963 | Original Music Composer |
| Bitter Fruit | 1967 | Original Music Composer |
| The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir | 1974 | Original Music Composer |
