The tomb chapel of Antal Serly in Losonc

Antal Serly Sr., a citizen of Losonc, had a tomb chapel built for himself and his family in the Losonc public cemetery in 1874. According to his will, the chapel was to be opened every year on All Souls' Day, where masses were previously held. This tradition no longer exists. His son, Lajos, was born in Losonc in 1855. He was encouraged to develop his musical talent, which he had shown at an early age, by Franz Liszt. After Karnagyi, important stages of his studies as a composer and the beginning of his career in Bratislava, Berlin, and Kolozsvár, he signed a contract with the National Theatre of Pest. His song, which began with the words of Antal Kazaliczky in 1880, gained great popularity. He also set poems by famous poets – Petőfi, Csokonai, and Lajos Pósa to music. He emigrated to America in 1905, after the theater he founded in Buda went bankrupt. He died there in 1939, his last wish being that his ashes be buried next to his parents in the family tomb in Losonc. This only happened in 1972. Lajos Serly's son, Tibor, was also born in Losonc in 1901, and like his father, he also became a musician. He began his career in his father's orchestra in New York. He graduated from the Budapest Academy of Music and was also a student of Kodály. In the 1920s and 1930s, he alternated between performing as a violist and conductor in America and Hungary. When Béla Bartók emigrated, Tibor Serly was already a recognized conductor, composer, and music teacher, who embraced and supported the Bartók family. He completed the Third Piano Concerto and the Viola Concerto after Béla Bartók's death. As a sign of gratitude and respect for the Serly family, Mrs. Ditta Pásztory Bartók had a memorial plaque made by sculptor Pavlosz Gasztarisz in 1983 in the tomb chapel in Losonc, where not only the ashes of Lajos Serly and his wife, but also their son Tibor, were placed for eternal rest.