István Szelényi (born on 08.08.1904 in Zólyom, died on 31.01.1972 in Budapest) studied composition with Zoltán Kodály at the Budapest Academy of Music and later became a teacher there himself. He was an excellent pianist and, as an artist performing throughout Europe, an outstanding interpreter particularly of the works by Franz Liszt and Béla Bartók. From his compositional œuvre, his educational works have become known all over the world, among them works for youth orchestra, violin ensemble, as well as chamber and piano music. His ‘Musikalisches Bilderbuch’ for piano is one of the most stimulating educational collections of piano music of the 20th century.