Horst Kudritzki was a German pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader known for his contributions to jazz and entertainment music. Born on January 30, 1911, in Königsberg, East Prussia, he pursued his studies in conducting, composition, instrumentation, and music history at the Stern’sches Konservatorium in Berlin from 1928 to 1932, followed by further education at the Musikhochschule. Kudritzki initially worked as an arranger and pianist for record companies such as Elektrola, Telefunken, and Odeon.

From 1936, he was a freelance conductor, composer, arranger, and pianist for the Reichsrundfunk. Between 1938 and 1944, he served as a composer and arranger at the Berliner Scala, establishing himself as a swing expert. During this period, he also arranged swing-oriented schlager music for the Deutsche Tanz- und Unterhaltungsorchester. Listed in the Gottbegnadeten-Liste in 1944, Kudritzki continued his career post-World War II as a conductor and arranger for the RBT-Orchestra until 1950.

Following the orchestra's dissolution, he became a musical editor at Bohème Verlag in Vienna and married singer Gloria Astor. Kudritzki also worked with various orchestras and record companies, including FFB, SFB, NDR, WDR, Elektrola, Telefunken, and Bertelsmann. From 1956, he was a guest conductor for the East Berlin Deutschlandsender. He composed film scores, such as "So toll wie anno dazumal" (1962), and popular songs like "Deinetwegen" and "Märchen aus 1001 Nacht." Horst Kudritzki passed away on July 2, 1970, in Berlin, and his grave is located at the Grunewald-Forst cemetery.