Eugen Suchoň was born on September 25, 1908 in Pezinok, Hungary (now Slovakia). His father, Ladislav Suchoň, was an organist and teacher. His mother, Serafĭna Suchoňovà, was a piano teacher, and it was from her that he received his first piano tuition. The house was always filled with music and, as a small child, he would listen from under the piano when his father rehearsed at home with other musicians. In 1920, at the age of twelve, he started taking piano lessons at the Bratislava School of Music with the distinguished musician Frico Kafenda. Later, from 1927–1931, he continued his studies with the same teacher at the newly established Academy of Music in Bratislava. His early works include several piano compositions and a choral work Vel’ky Pôst (The Great Fast). He graduated from his composition classes with the Sonata in A-flat for Violin and Piano and a String Quartet (op.2, 1931, revised 1939).
