Béla Bartók

Béla Bartók is, without question, considered the most significant Hungarian composer; together with Zoltán Kodály, he succeeded in introducing Hungarian folk music to a broad audience. At the same time, he intensively engaged with Western European art music. At the beginning of his career, he drew inspiration from composers such as Brahms, Richard Strauss, Debussy, and Stravinsky, but gradually these role models receded behind the influence of Hungarian, Slavic, and Romanian folklore, which he had discovered through his musical field research. From all of this, Bartók developed an unmistakable, deeply personal musical language, which he couldn't always connect with his contemporary audience, but which today is gaining an increasing number of followers and admirers.