András Szőllősy was born one hundred years ago, on February 27, 1921 in Szászváros, Transylvania. He was one of the leading composers and musicologists of the decades that followed Bartók and Kodály. He was the senior master of the “big generation”, György Ligeti and György Kurtág. Like his two world-famous colleagues, he did a lot to ensure that Hungarian music survived on the world map even after Bartók. Young Ligeti loved and respected him as if he were his brother: “I was infinitely impressed by your talent and knowledge as a bigger brother. And you opened up a world to me that seemed inaccessible: Western culture", Ligeti wrote for Szőllősy's 75th birthday in 1996. Just as Bartók's and Kodály's oeuvre has amplified international attention to Hungarian performing arts, the oeuvre of the three masters of modern music: Kurtág, Ligeti and Szőllősy is a huge opportunity – as well as a responsibility – for today's generation of musicians, be it a master or a student.