Krzysztof Trzcinski, known professionally as Krzysztof Komeda, was a Polish film score composer and jazz pianist widely regarded as one of the most influential Polish jazz musicians.
19 Facts About Krzysztof Komeda
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Krzysztof Komeda is best known for writing the scores for Roman Polanski's films Knife in the Water, Cul-de-sac, The Fearless Vampire Killers, and Rosemary's Baby.
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Krzysztof Komeda chose Komeda as his stage name only upon graduation from university as a means of distancing himself as a jazz musician from his daytime job in a medical clinic.
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Krzysztof Komeda grew up in Czestochowa and Ostrow Wielkopolski where in 1950 he graduated from the 'liceum for Boys'.
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Krzysztof Komeda finished his six-year-long studies and obtained a medical doctor diploma in 1956.
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Krzysztof Komeda took music lessons from early childhood; to become a virtuoso was his dream.
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Krzysztof Komeda became a member of the Poznan conservatorium at the age of eight, but World War II thwarted his plans.
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Krzysztof Komeda explored the theory of music, and learned to play piano, during this period and later, until 1950; however, he was aware of the loss of the past six years.
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Krzysztof Komeda met Witold Kujawski, a graduate of the same school and active as a swing bass player, at the gymnasium in Ostrow Wielkopolski.
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Several years later, it became clear why Krzysztof Komeda was fascinated with be-bop performed by Andrzej Trzaskowski.
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Krzysztof Komeda appeared with Grzewinski on the I Jazz Festival in Sopot in August 1956, but he achieved success performing with saxophonist Jan "Ptaszyn" Wroblewski and vibraphonist Jerzy Milian, because dixieland did not meet Krzysztof Komeda's expectations at the time.
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Krzysztof Komeda played jazz that related to European traditions and which was the combination of the two of the most popular American groups at that time: the Modern Jazz Quartet and the Gerry Mulligan Quartet.
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Krzysztof Komeda was a constantly searching poet who could find ways of individual expression of himself within jazz, Slavic lyricism, European sensibility and in the traditions of Polish music.
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Krzysztof Komeda visited Scandinavia for the first time in spring 1960, and he went back there every year thereafter.
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Krzysztof Komeda wrote the music for Henning Carlsen's film The Cats.
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Krzysztof Komeda stayed in Los Angeles in 1968 where he composed film music for Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby and Buzz Kulik's Riot.
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In December 1968, in Los Angeles, Krzysztof Komeda had a tragic accident which led to a haematoma of the brain.
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In 1991, a street named in honour of Krzysztof Komeda was opened in Warsaw in the Mokotow District.
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In 2008, a commemorative plaque in honour of Krzysztof Komeda was unveiled on the building of the National Bank of Poland in Warsaw.