Sárközy was among the second generation of Kodály's pupils, coming to maturity during the war and composing at the height of the Communist régime, when contact with the music of Western Europe was cut off. The purpose of music was then seen as "serving the cultural needs of the masses", and light, accessible works were in vogue. Western musical influences resurfaced only after the uprising of 1956, and Hungarian composers first encountered movements such as serialism in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sárközy was a confidant of the composer Endre Szervánszky, a leading composer of the post-1956 era, and György Kurtág dedicated works to him.