Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) was one of the most productive and widely cultivated Hungarian composers of the 20th century. His oeuvre is large and varied. His music, although not avant garde, is Innovative and experimental. He was a friend of painters, writers, and composers, and was an enthusiast of Italian culture. On 10 September, a conference was held at National Széchenyi Library to celebrate the 110th anniversary of Farkas's birth and the recent addition of his legacy to the library.

The National Széchenyi Library recently added the documents and works of Ferenc Farkas to its archive of Hungarian music history. At a conference commemorating Farkas’s birth and contribution to the canon, the library opened an exposition about his life and work. András Farkas, son of the composer, together with his wife, provided the library with an exceptionally organised and well-kept collection.

Farkas was among the legendary figures of Hungarian composer education. His students included György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Zsolt Durkó, Attila Bozay, László Vidovszky and Zoltán Jeney. Both György Kurtág and Zoltán Jeney attended the conference. Jeney presented a talk about Farkas's open personality, his teaching methods and philosophy from personal memories. Musicologist László Gombos gave an overview of the composer's musical activity. Farkas was a composer and pianist in theatre and movie production, he was a choir director, a répétiteur, a conductor, headmaster of a music school, and, for decades, the head of the composing department at the Hungarian Academy of Music. He referred to himself as a "problem solving-artist" and had a lasting impact on his community in all these positions.

Balázs Mikusi, head of the Music Collection at the National Széchenyi Library presented a lecture entitled "Ferenc Farkas, the manager," in which he shared information found in the letters (now in the library collection) along with many examples that illustrated Farkas’s management methods and strategies. Éva Kelemen, who works in the library’s Music Collection, lectured about one of the most influential Hungarian poets of the 20th century, and Farkas’s dear friend, Sándor Weöres and presented the history of how the song-cycle Fruit Basket was born. The lecture was based on correspondence found in the collection.

Musicologist Péter Bozó described how the radio, theatre, and film versions of the frequently played 20th century operetta, Csinom Palkó were created. In the closing lecture, musicologist Tibor Tallián, talked about Farkas’s last opera, A Gentleman from Venice based on the play by Sándor Márai, which was premiered in 1981. In his talk, Tallián drew comparisons between the opera and the twentieth century Italian music.
(Text by János Malina)