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History

Přítomnost was founded through the merger of the group Nezávislí (Independent) and the loose association known as Několik (Several). Composers that came to Přítomnost from Nezávislí in the 1920s included Václav Kálik, Vladimír Polívka, Josef Stanislav, Karel Hanf, and Bohumil Špidra. Záboj Bláha-Mikeš and Jan Evangelista Zelinka came over from Několik. The composers Emil František Burian, Jindřich Hybler, and Bohuslav Taraba helped with the founding of Přítomnost as independent members.

The unusually eventful history of the association can be divided into seven stages.

During the first stage, when the association was headed by Bláha-Mikeš, Taraba, Aim, and Polívka, Přítomnost concerts mainly featured the music of the founding generation of members.

The second stage of the history of Přítomnost was marked by the ascent of the younger composing generation in the mid-1930s, spearheaded by Alois Hába. Important personalities from this period also include Karel Reiner and conductor Karel Ančerl. This generation opened the gates to foreign influences and new compositional directions, especially microtonal music. This period also saw the publication of the association magazine Rytmus (Rhythm), which contained not only information about the association's concerts, but from the very beginning published professional studies focused primarily on issues concerning contemporary music.

The third stage in the history of the association occurred during the Second World War. Vladimír Polívka and Otakar Jeremiáš headed the association during this period. Association activities had to be reduced to a minimum as many members were transported to concentration camps, contacts with the outside world were severed, and members were even forced to relinquish the actual name "Přítomnost."

The post-war years held the promise of a new blossoming of association activities. In this fourth stage of the association's history new names like Jan Hanuš, Jan F. Fischer, Ivo Jirásek, Karel Husa, and others appeared in the leadership of Přítomnost alongside pre-war personalities. But while previous international contacts were soon re-established, this period came to an ignominious end in 1949 with the incorporation of Přítomnost into the Union of Czechoslovak Composers.

The 1950s to 1980s were formally the fifth stage of Přítomnost, but this period in fact was a forced disruption of activity.

The sixth chapter in the history of Přítomnost was the relatively recent era of post-November revitalization that mainly involved the generation of composers that had experienced the association's post-war years. This included Jan Hanuš, Karel Reiner, Ivo Jirásek, and Štěpán Lucký from the old guard and younger members such as Jindřich Feld, Zdeněk Šesták, Václav Riedlbauch, and Ivan Englich.

The current and seventh stage is now fully under the direction of a new generation that completely took over the destiny of Přítomnost in the first years of the new millennium. We can appraise the membership composition of Přítomnost and its creative success by following the latest work produced by the association.