As different as their life stories were, and as different as their compositional styles developed, Emánuel Moór, Egon Wellesz and Sándor Jemnitz shared a similar cultural background. All three grew up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Moór and Jemnitz as native Hungarians, Wellesz in Vienna as the son of Hungarian parents. All three had Jewish roots, and all three were influenced as composers primarily by the musical tradition of the German-speaking cultural sphere. Their careers all led them away from their homeland: in Jemnitz's case only temporarily, as he settled permanently in Hungary after extended stays in Germany, and as a traveling Kapellmeister in Bohemia, Ukraine and the Netherlands. Moór also went to distant lands as a young man, first to America, then to England and finally to Switzerland. Wellesz, on the other hand, did not leave Vienna until he was forced to do so by the Nazi persecution of the Jews, and subsequently lived in England until his death. As different as their life stories were, and as different as their compositional styles developed, Emánuel Moór, Egon Wellesz and Sándor Jemnitz shared a similar cultural background. All three grew up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Moór and Jemnitz as native Hungarians, Wellesz in Vienna as the son of Hungarian parents. All three had Jewish roots, and all three were influenced as composers primarily by the musical tradition of the German-speaking cultural sphere. Their careers all led them away from their homeland: in Jemnitz's case only temporarily, as he settled permanently in Hungary after extended stays in Germany, and as a traveling Kapellmeister in Bohemia, Ukraine and the Netherlands. Moór also went to distant lands as a young man, first to America, then to England and finally to Switzerland. Wellesz, on the other hand, did not leave Vienna until he was forced to do so by the Nazi persecution of the Jews, and subsequently lived in England until his death.
Another common feature is the great importance of chamber music for all three composers. Jemnitz in particular, but also Moór, had a preference for unusual combinations of instruments. Wellesz's work focuses mainly on string quartets and works for solo instruments. It is therefore no surprise that each of them contributed to the literature for solo violin, which experienced its second great flowering (after the late Baroque period) in the early 20th century.