eMusic

Start Your Trial

Krzysztof Komeda

Krzysztof Komeda

Rate it!

(0 ratings)

  • Born: Apr. 08, 1931 in Poznan, Poland
  • Died:Apr. 23, 1969
  • Years Active: 1950s, 1960s

Biography

Jazz musician and film composer Krzysztof Komeda is best known for his film scores for the movies of Roman Polanski and Ingmar Bergman. Born Krzysztof Trzcinski in 1931, he used "Komeda" as his last name because of Communism disfavor with jazz music. Professionally an ear, nose, and throat specialist, Komeda composed and played jazz piano, and was well received at the 1956 Sopot Jazz Festival. Komeda's chief musical accomplishments were in free jazz. Komeda performed and recorded with trumpeter Tomasz Stanko (from 1963 on) and Swedish tenor saxophonist Bernt Rosengren. His album Astigmatic (1965) is acknowledged as his masterpiece. His best-known work, however, was in the realm of film scores, which he focused on increasingly in the last years before his death. He scored over 40 films for directors including Polanski, Bergman, Andrzej Wajda, Henning Carlsen, and more. After composing the score for Polanski's famed American movie debut, Rosemary's Baby, Komeda was severely injured in a car wreck in Los Angeles. After emerging from a coma, Komeda returned to his wife, Zofia, in Warsaw, and died in 1969, not yet 40 years old. In 1998, the Power Brothers label reissued the much-hailed Memory of Bach, 1967's Nighttime, Daytime Requiem, and Mojo Ballada, which includes a different recording of the music for Polanski's Knife in the Water and pieces for Miroslaw Kijowicz's cartoons.
— Joslyn Layne , All Music Guide

Related Artists Ancestors, Peers and Acolytes

Formal Connections:

Tomasz Stanko Quartet, Bernt Rosengren Quartet

“ The indie iTunes — Hardcore music fans are migrating to eMusic, the iTunes Music Store's cheaper, cooler cousin.”


Rolling Stone
Start Your Trial

Recently Viewed

Back
Forward

© 1998-2009 eMusic.com Inc. eMusic and the eMusic logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks in the USA or other countries. All rights reserved.

All Music Guide © 1992 - 2009 All Media Guide, LLC
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC

Facebook®, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia® are registered trademarks of their respective owners, Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. and Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Neither Facebook Inc., Google, Inc., Yahoo! Inc. nor Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. are partners or sponsors of eMusic. eMusic uses the Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia API but is not endorsed or certified by Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia. eMusic does not pre-screen, monitor, endorse nor assume any liability for websites, contents, products, services or claims made by Facebook, YouTube, Flickr™ and Wikipedia®.

Legal or copyright question regarding Facebook, YouTube, Flickr or Wikipedia content on eMusic? Please email us.