László Lajtha was one of the most significant Hungarian composers of the 20th century, though wider recognition of his music was prevented by the Communist regime. The Seventh Symphony is a tragic, dramatic and revolutionary work directly associated with the brutal suppression of the Hungarian Uprising of 1956, the composer stating that “the musical instruments grieve at the tragedies of Hungary, pray for truth and quote the sounds of the hymn for a peaceful future”. The entertaining Third Suite is light in tone in the manner of a divertimento, while Lajtha’s music for the film Hortobágy reflects the wild beauty of life on the Hungarian puszta.