Joseph Kosma

Age: N/A | From: Budapest, Hungary

TV
Involvement

Movie
Involvement

Person Details

Birthday:

Aliases: No known aliases

Gender: Male

Place of birth: Budapest, Hungary

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 75

TV Involvements: 0

Most Famous Work

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.

Most Famous Work

Average

Acting

Year	Character	Movie/Tv
1959	Self	Discorama 1959-02-04 TV Show
1936	joueur d'harmonium	Jenny 1936-09-18 Movie
Year	Character	Movie/Tv

Sound

Year	Role	Movie/Tv
1974	Original Music Composer	The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir 1974-05-02 Movie
1970	Music	La Fenêtre 1970-08-02 Movie
1967	Music	Kitosch, the Man Who Came from the North 1967-03-23 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Bitter Fruit 1967-01-11 Movie
1963	Original Music Composer	In the French Style 1963-09-18 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Thank Heaven for Small Favors 1963-08-28 Movie
1962	Music	The Doll 1962-11-07 Movie
	Music	Snobs ! 1962-09-05 Movie
	Original Music Composer	The Elusive Corporal 1962-05-23 Movie
	Music	Dawn on the Third Day 1962-01-26 Movie
1961	Music	El secreto de los hombres azules 1961-08-11 Movie
1960	Original Music Composer	Croesus 1960-09-21 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Love and the Frenchwoman 1960-09-16 Movie
	Original Music Composer	The Doctor's Horrible Experiment 1960-07-04 Movie
	Music	The Eighth Day 1960-02-24 Movie
	Music	Matisse ou Le talent de bonheur 1960-01-01 Movie
1959	Original Music Composer	Katia 1959-12-22 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Picnic on the Grass 1959-11-11 Movie
	Music	The Doctor's Dilemma 1959-01-01 Movie
1958	Original Music Composer	Un certain Monsieur Jo 1958-04-16 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Tamango 1958-01-24 Movie
1957	Sound Director	L'inspecteur aime la bagarre 1957-06-12 Movie
	Music	La Commune de Paris 1957-04-06 Movie
	Original Music Composer	The Case of Dr. Laurent 1957-04-03 Movie
1956	Music	I'll Get Back to Kandara 1956-12-20 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Soupçons 1956-11-23 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Main Street 1956-10-26 Movie
	Music	Elena and Her Men 1956-09-12 Movie
	Original Music Composer	That Is the Dawn 1956-05-09 Movie
	Original Music Composer	People of No Importance 1956-02-15 Movie
1955	Music	The Fugitives 1955-06-17 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Magic Village 1955-03-22 Movie
1954	Original Music Composer	No Exit 1954-12-22 Movie
1953	Original Music Composer	Rhine Virgin 1953-11-13 Movie
	Music	Ma Jeannette et mes copains 1953-08-01 Movie
	Music	Innocents in Paris 1953-07-22 Movie
	Songs	The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird 1953-05-29 Movie
1952	Music Director	Crimson Curtain 1952-11-14 Movie
	Music	Judgement of God 1952-08-20 Movie
	Original Music Composer	The Green Glove 1952-02-28 Movie
	Music	Wolves Hunt at Night 1952-02-06 Movie
1951	Original Music Composer	Perfectionist 1951-11-28 Movie
	Sound	The Cape of Hope 1951-11-14 Movie
	Music	Shadow and Light 1951-06-27 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Juliette, or Key of Dreams 1951-05-18 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Without Leaving an Address 1951-01-17 Movie
1950	Music	Passing through Lorraine 1950-12-31 Movie
	Music	Disorder 1950-12-02 Movie
	Music	Black Jack 1950-11-20 Movie
	Music	Lost Souvenirs 1950-11-11 Movie
1949	Music	At the Grand Balcony 1949-11-30 Movie
	Music	Wicked City 1949-11-16 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Truant School 1949-04-08 Movie
	Music	The Lovers of Verona 1949-03-07 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Blood of the Beasts 1949-01-01 Movie
1948	Music	Man to Men 1948-10-01 Movie
	Music	Crossroads of Passion 1948-08-04 Movie
	Music	The Eleven O'Clock Woman 1948-03-03 Movie
1947	Original Music Composer	Bethsabée 1947-11-21 Movie
	Music	The Little Soldier 1947-08-27 Movie
	Music	Love Around the House 1947-08-27 Movie
	Music	Noah's Ark 1947-08-20 Movie
	Original Music Composer	Noah's Ark 1947-08-20 Movie
1946	Original Music Composer	Gates of the Night 1946-12-03 Movie
	Original Music Composer	A Day in the Country 1946-05-21 Movie
1943	Original Music Composer	Adieu Léonard 1943-09-01 Movie
1939	Original Music Composer	The Rules of the Game 1939-07-09 Movie
1938	Original Music Composer	La Bête Humaine 1938-12-23 Movie
	Music	Street Singer 1938-10-28 Movie
	Music	La Marseillaise 1938-02-10 Movie
1937	Original Music Composer	Grand Illusion 1937-06-04 Movie
1936	Original Music Composer	Jenny 1936-09-18 Movie
	Original Music Composer	The Crime of Monsieur Lange 1936-01-24 Movie
Year	Role	Movie/Tv