Bárdos studied at the Budapest Academy of Music with Kodály and Siklós. He served as a teacher in a secondary school and at the academy as a professor of music. The aim of his compositional and conducting career was to develop Hungarian choral life, a goal he shared with Kodály. Toward this end he conducted many choral groups in Budapest while cultivating choral activity in rural areas. His compositions, as in the work of Bartók and Kodály, incorporate Hungarian folksong elements and are models of choral writing.