Vladimir Cosma (born 13 April 1940) is a Romanian composer, conductor and violinist, who has made his career in France and the United States.
Personal life He was born into a family of musicians. His father Teodor Cosma was a pianist and conductor, and his mother Carola PimperDaniel Bernard, La Lettre, 26 février 2024 : Vladimir Cosma, virtuose de la comptabilité. — « Ma mère Carola Pimper a composé des musiques sous son nom ou sous pseudonyme [...] » a writer-composer. His uncle Edgar Cosma was a composer and conductor.
One of Vladimir's grandmothers, a pianist, was a student of Ferruccio Busoni.
Career After receiving first prizes for violin and composition at the Bucharest Conservatory, Vladimir Cosma arrived in Paris in 1963 and continued his studies at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique de Paris, working with Nadia Boulanger. As well as for classical music, he discovered early on a passion for jazz, film music and all forms of popular music.
From 1964 he made a number of international tours as a concert violinist and began to devote himself more and more to composing. He wrote various compositions including: Trois mouvements d'été for symphony orchestra, Oblique for violoncello and string orchestra, music for theatre and ballet (Volpone for the Comédie Française, the opera Fantômas...).
In 1968, Yves Robert entrusted him with his first film music for Alexandre le Bienheureux.
Cosma has since composed more than three hundred scores for feature films and TV series. His numerous successes in the cinema have notably been in collaboration with Yves Robert, Gérard Oury, Francis Veber, Claude Pinoteau, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Claude Zidi, Ettore Scola, Pascal Thomas, Pierre Richard, Yves Boisset, André Cayatte, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Edouard Molinaro, Jean-Marie Poiré, etc. Films he composed the score for include: Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire, Diva, Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob, La Boum, Le Bal, L'As des as, La Chèvre, Les Fugitifs, , , Dupont Lajoie, Un éléphant ça trompe énormément, La Dérobade, Le Père Noël est une ordure, L'Étudiante, La Gloire de mon père, Le Château de ma mère, Le dîner de cons, etc.
Cosma has also been featured in major French and American television productions: Michel Strogoff, Kidnapped, Mistral's Daughter, Châteauvallon, Les Mystères de Paris, Les Coeurs brûlés, etc.
Film music allowed him to approach and develop many different musical styles: jazz (with music written for soloists such as Chet Baker, Toots Thielemans, Don Byas, Stéphane Grappelli, Jean-Luc Ponty, Philip Catherine, Tony Coe, Pepper Adams; chanson (for Nana Mouskouri, Marie Laforêt, Richard Sanderson, Diane Dufresne, Herbert Léonard, Mireille Mathieu, Nicole Croisille, Lara Fabian, Guy Marchand); and original compositions inspired by folk music (for Gheorghe Zamfir, Stanciu Simion "Syrinx", pan-flute, Liam O'Flynn, pipes/Romane-guitar), as well as classical music (Berlin Concerto for violin and orchestra, Concerto for Euphonium and orchestra, Concerto Ibérique for trumpet and orchestra, Courts Métrages for brass quintet, etc.)
In 2006 Cosma himself conducted the world premiere of his composition Eh bien ! Dansez maintenant, a divertissement for narrator and symphony orchestra, adapting eleven of La Fontaine's Fables. The work's title refers to the ant's rejoinder to the grasshopper when it comes begging for food in the first of the fables: "You sang all summer? Now go and dance!" In Cosma's interpretation, the recitation of the story is unaccompanied, but each of the fables is illustrated in a different dance measure – from polka to pasodoble, from gavotte to foxtrot."J'aime le pragmatisme des fables de La Fontaine", an interview with Vladimir Cosma, Le Temps, 4 May 2006 The first performance of many that followed took place at the Victoria Hall in Geneva, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Lambert Wilson as narrator. Conducting the Orchestre National de France, he gave a first performance in Paris of this work in December 2010 at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, featuring of the Comédie Française.
Vladimir Cosma went on to write the opera Marius et Fanny, adapted from Marcel Pagnol, for which the first production took place in September 2007 at the Opéra de Marseille with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu in the title roles, as well as Jean-Philippe Lafont in the role of César. The performances were repeated several times on television on the channels Arte and France 3.
In 2008 he composed the music for the musical comedy performed at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, with , Marianne James, Spike, Julie Victor, among others.
In June 2009, Vladimir Cosma conducted the world premiere, in the Eglise Sainte-Madeleine de Béziers, of his cantata 1209, for soprano, narrator, children's choir and orchestra, written especially for the 8th centenary of the Sac de Béziers.
He is dedicated to re-writing his film music with the intention of conducting performances in symphonic concerts, thus approaching a wider audience than at the cinema . Among others, he gave a concert in Geneva in 2003 with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, a series of concerts in 2003 with the Orchestre National de Lyon, three concerts in 2005 in Paris at the Grand Rex, and a concert in 2010 with the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
He has also appeared in many countries with major symphony orchestras and such prestigious soloists as Ivry Gitlis, Vadim Repin, Wilhelmenia Fernandez, Patrice Fontanarosa, Jean-Luc Ponty, Didier Lockwood, Stanciu Simion, Philip Catherine and others. A book of interviews with Vincent Perrot entitled Vladimir Cosma comme au cinéma was published in 2009 in the Editions Hors Collection and an anthology of his film music regrouping 91 complete original soundtracks in two volumes has just come out. Two evenings were devoted to him by the French TV channel, France 3 in 2010, airing his concert at the Théâtre du Châtelet and a documentary Vladimir Cosma intime.
Cosma received two Césars for the best movie score, for Diva (1981) and Le Bal (1984), two Golden Sevens for the best music for television, as well as a number of prizes and awards in France and other countries. He has also obtained numerous gold and platinum records all over the world (France, Germany, Japan, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Scandinavia). Cosma is Chevalier de l'ordre National la Légion d'Honneur, as well as Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. He has also been awarded the Romanian Ordinul "Meritul cultural" în grad de Cavaler.
Works Film and television 1960s Year TitleEnglish title Creators Type Notes 1966 Le Plus Vieux Métier du mondeThe Oldest Profession Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Autant-Lara, Philippe de Broca... Sketch film Music by Michel Legrand and Cosma Oum le dauphin blancZoom the White Dolphin Animated series – 52 episodes Co-composed music with Michel Legrand, arrangements and orchestral direction. 1967 But Dominique Delouche Short film 1968 Alexandre le bienheureuxVery Happy Alexander Yves Robert Film Maldonne (English: Misgift) Sergio Gobbi Film Les Prisonniers de la libertéPrisoners of freedom Yona Zaretsky (Scouting Patrol) Micha Shagrir Arrangements and orchestral direction Pour un amour lointainFor a Distant Love Edmond Séchan Arrangements and orchestral direction 1969 Clérambard Yves Robert Film Appelez-moi MathildeCall Me Mathilde Pierre Mondy Arrangements and orchestral direction Le Miroir de la terre (English: The mirror of the earth) Edmond Séchan Short film 1969 The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Wolfgang Liebeneiner TV series
1970s Year TitleEnglish title Creators Type Notes 1970 Le Distrait Absent-minded, alternative English title: The Daydreamer Pierre Richard Film Térésa Film Caïn de nulle part Daniel Daërt Film 1971 Les Malheurs d'Alfred The Troubles of Alfred Pierre Richard Film Tang André Michel TV series, 13 x 26' 1972 Le Grand Blond avec une chaussure noire The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe Yves Robert Film Pascal Thomas Film Les Félines Daniel Daërt Film Neither by Day Nor by Night Steven Hilliard Stern Film 1973 L'Affaire Crazy Capo Film Pascal Thomas Film La dernière bourrée à Paris Raoul André Film Film Salut l'artiste Hail the Artist Yves Robert Film François Reichenbach Film With Raymond Devos Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob Gérard Oury Film Le Dingue Daniel Daërt Film Les Grands Détectives Jacques Nahum, Jean-Pierre Decourt, Jean Herman, Alexandre Astruc... TV series, 6 x 52' La Main enchantée TV film 1974 La Rivale Sergio Gobbi Film Le Chaud Lapin Pascal Thomas Film La Moutarde me monte au nez Lucky Pierre Claude Zidi Film La Gueule de l'emploi Jacques Rouland Film Le Retour du Grand Blond Yves Robert Film La Virée superbe Gérard Vergez Film 1975 Dupont Lajoie The Common Man Yves Boisset Film La Course à l'échalote Claude Zidi Film Catherine et Cie Michel Boisrond Film Roger Hanin Film The Pink Telephone Edouard Molinaro Film Adios André Michel TV mini-series, 3 x 90' Hugues-le-Loup Michel Subiela TV film TF1 Channel and news broadcast theme. Cinéma du Dimanche Theme 1976 Les Œufs brouillés Scrambled Eggs Joël Santoni Film Pascal Thomas Film Le Jouet The Toy Francis Veber Film Un éléphant ça trompe énormément Yves Robert Film Dracula père et fils Dracula and Son Edouard Molinaro Film Claude Zidi Film André Cayatte Film Autopsy of a monster Michel Strogoff Jean-Pierre Decourt TV series, 7 x 55' Le Collectionneur de cerveaux Michel Subiela TV film Les Robots pensants L'Assassinat de Concino Concini Gérard Vergez TV film Les Mystères de Loudun Gérard Vergez TV film Silence ...on tourne Roger Coggio 1977 Le Chien de Monsieur Michel Jean-Jacques Beineix Short film Nous irons tous au paradis Yves Robert Film Un Oursin dans la poche Pascal Thomas Film Animal Claude Zidi Film Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine Coluche Film La Mer promise Jacques Ertaud TV film Les Confessions d'un enfant de Cœur Jean L'Hôte TV film Vaincre à Olympie Michel Subiela TV film Les Filles de Malemort Daniel Daërt Où vont les poissons rouges ? André Michel TV film Richelieu Jean-Pierre Decourt TV series, 6 x 52' Enquête posthume sur un vaisseau fantôme Michel Subiela TV film Les Jeunes Filles TV mini-series, 2 x 90' Le Loup blanc Jean-Pierre Decourt TV mini-series, 3 x 55' L'Affaire des poisons Gérard Vergez TV film La Zizanie Claude Zidi Film La Raison d'Etat André Cayatte Film 1978 Je suis timide mais je me soigne Pierre Richard Film 1978 Cause toujours... tu m'intéresses ! Edouard Molinaro Film 1978 Confidences pour confidences Pascal Thomas Film 1978 L'Enlèvement du Régent Gérard Vergez TV film Le Chevalier d'Harmental 1978 – Episode 1: Le Dossier Françoise Muller Edouard Molinaro TV 1978 Les Grandes Conjurations – Episode: Le Connétable de Bourbon Jean-Pierre Decourt TV 1978 Histoires insolites. Episode 1: La Stratégie du serpent Yves Boisset TV 1978 Plein les poches pour pas un rond Daniel Daërt 1978 L'Equipage André Michel TV film 1978 Médecins de nuit , Bruno Gantillon, Jean-Pierre Prévost, Philippe Lefèbvre, Peter Kassovitz... TV series, 44 x 55' 1979 Memoirs of a French Whore (La Dérobade) Daniel Duval Film 1979 Courage fuyons Yves Robert Film 1979 C'est pas moi, c'est lui Pierre Richard Film 1979 Ils sont grands ces petits Joël Santoni Film 1979 Histoires de voyous: Les Marloupins Michel Berny TV 1979 Histoires de voyous: La Belle Affaire Louis Grospierre TV 1979 La Servante TV film 1979 La Belle vie Lazare Iglesis TV film 1979 Marc Camoletti 1979 Les Aventures de David Balfour Jean-Pierre Decourt TV series, 6 x 55' 1979 La Fabrique, un conte de Noël Pascal Thomas TV film 1979 Le Baiser au lépreux André Michel TV film 1979 Nicolas Ribowski, Jean Girault, , ... 1st TV series, 6 x 55' 1979 Sam et Sally Joël Santoni 2nd TV series, 6 x 55'
1980s