``I would call the material a rich musical heritage,'' Sirmay told the New York Times. ``There is enough material for one or two Broadway musical scores. There are dozens of excellent songs.'' Though he lived in America for most of his later years and was a good friend of Gershwin, Szirmai eschewed the jazz styles popular at the time; in addition to the folk music of his native Hungary, his music shows the influence of German Romanticism, particularly Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann, whom he most admired.
Gershwin
Szirmai