Vladimir Komarov is a Soviet and Russian composer and poet, born in Kulob on December 27, 1940. He was named People's Artist of the Russian Federation in 2001.
In 1966, Komarov graduated from the music college attached to the Moscow Conservatory and entered the Moscow State Conservatory, where he studied composition with Nikolai Sidelnikov. He became a member of the USSR Composers’ Union in 1973. In 1976, Soyuzmultfilm hired him as a music editor; in 1979, he moved to Mosfilm as chief music editor, a position he held until 2011.
Komarov co-founded the Russian Association of Electroacoustic Music with Eduard Artemyev in 1989 and joined the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music. For about forty years, he took part in concerts at the Moscow Autumn International Music Festival, including performances of his electronic works. He also presented his computer-based compositions in the Netherlands and France.
His works include the ballet Portrait, the opera Parable of the Poet, the musical Wedding Carousel, the cantata Bread of My Homeland, four symphonies, three symphonic poems, seven instrumental concertos, and chamber and choral music. His output also includes electroacoustic and computer compositions. His music has been performed by leading ensembles under conductors including Viktor Dubrovsky, Eri Klas, Dmitri Kitayenko, Mikhail Yurovsky, Vladimir Fedoseyev, and Emin Khachaturian. He was a laureate of the All-Union Composers’ Competition.
Komarov wrote music for more than 100 films and television series. Directors who commissioned his scores included Evgeny Matveyev, Iskra Babich, Leonid Filatov, Garri Bardin, and the directing team Valery Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolsky. He received the Nika Award for Best Film Score for The Peasant Lady in 1995. From 2013, he served as president of the Cinema and Television Composers’ Guild and initiated its annual concert series Hits for All Time, featuring music from films.
Alongside his musical work, Komarov wrote poetry, librettos for his opera and ballet, and articles on film music and musicians. His books include Mosaic of Life (2011), Reality and Motifs and Poems for Health (2018), Fables, Fairy Tales and… (2019), and Grandmother’s Decanter (2020). He joined the Writers’ Union of Russia in 2023.