By 1952, his film score work was proving so successful that he was able to negotiate a clause in his contract with MGM that gave him three months each year away from the film studio so that he could focus on concert music.
Rózsa's Cello Concerto, Op. 32 was written much later (1967-68) at the request of the cellist János Starker, who premiered the work in Berlin in 1969.