When you consider that "Les Feuilles Mortes" is one of the best-known songs in
the French repertoire, you immediately have an idea of the importance of its
composer, Joseph Kosma. An illustrious name in our cultural heritage, few people
are aware that he is also the creator of a multitude of musical pieces in all
forms.
The son of a schoolteacher and grandson of a pupil of Franz Liszt, Joseph
learned to play the piano by ear. By instinct, he was able to reproduce
fashionable tunes. By the age of ten, he was already able to improvise on silent
films. By the age of twelve, he was...