The find was made in the composer’s archives donated to the library by members of his family several years ago.
The newly discovered manuscripts are of six pieces, some which were included in Komeda’s project "Meine Süsse Europäische Heimat – My Sweet European Homeland."
They are settings of texts by Polish poets Zbigniew Herbert, Mieczysław Jastrun, Bolesław Leśmian, Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and Adam Ważyk.
The recording was made in Baden-Baden, southwestern Germany, in May 1967, with leading Polish jazz musicians such as Tomasz Stańko (trumpet), Zbigniew Namysłowski (saxophone) and Roman Dyląg (acoustic bass), as well as Sweden's Rune Carlsson (drums) and Austria's Helmut Lohner (reciter).
The album, released by Columbia Records, was described by Komeda himself as his greatest achievement.
The National Library writes on its website that, after over half a century, an unknown part of Komeda’s legacy from "My Sweet European Homeland" has been made available to musicians and researchers.
The Komeda archives in the library collection include the composer’s arrangements of various jazz standards, the scores of his film soundtracks and incidental music for the theatre, as well as his school certificates, identity cards and his student record book.
Krzysztof Komeda (real name Krzysztof Trzciński) was born in 1931 in the Polish city of Poznań. A child prodigy, he was admitted to the piano class of the city’s conservatory at the age of eight.
After World War II, he developed a career as a jazz pianist and composer. He also completed medical studies and for some time worked as a physician.
In December 1968, while in Los Angeles to work on the soundtrack to Roman Polanski’s movie Rosemary’s Baby, Komeda had a tragic accident which led to a brain hemorrhage.
He was flown back to Poland, but failed to recover, and died in a Warsaw hospital in April 1969, aged 38.
Komeda’s credits also include Polanski’s film Knife in the Water.
(mk/gs)