As a fourth-year student at the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music, Miklós Kocsár had already completed his graduation pieces: Hegyi legények (Mountain Lads) (1957), for tenor solo and male choir, based on Neo-Greek folk poetry and featuring the brass instrumentation which would remain characteristic of his style, and Kürtverseny (Horn Concerto) (1957), which attracted attention not only for its choice of genre,