Joseph Kosma

about

Joseph Kosma (22 October 1905 – 7 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer of Jewish background. Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Akos. A maternal relative was the photographer László Moholy-Nagy, and another relative was the conductor Georg Solti. He started to play the piano at age 5, 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 Gymnasium 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 also 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 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 ot

top songs

albums

Wilson chante Montand

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Icon: Menuhin and Grappelli

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Les enfants du paradis (Marcel Carné, Jacques Prévert et la musique)

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Menuhin & Grappelli Play Jealousy & Other Great Standards

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Paris (SD)

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Destination Paris - Autumn Leaves

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Kosma: Les feuilles mortes (Arr. Leuenberger for Tenor and Piano)

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Autumn Leaves

Grand Illusion [La Grande Illusion] (1937 Film Score)

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Lumieres

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Joseph Kosma : Baptiste, suite d'orchestre tirée du ballet du film Les Enfants du Paradis (Original Movie Soundtrack)

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Souvenirs: Sublime Music for the Oboe

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