ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT

Since its inception, the Department of Composition has focused primarily on educating professional composers in the field of autonomous musical creation.

After 1989, when the ideological barriers fell, the department opened up to a plurality of creative aesthetics and opinions, thus gradually beginning to increasingly reflect the trends in the field abroad and the evolution of compositional movements and musical technology. These innovations began under the leadership of Professor Václav Riedlbauch, and expanded rapidly particularly during Professor Ivan Kurz's time as department head. The department's workshops were gradually equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for creating notation materials and electroacoustic music, and today are comparable to the leading European universities. After 1989, teachers at the department included such names as Svatopluk Havelka, Petr Eben, Ivana Loudová and other important artists.

Autonomous musical creation remains the primary objective of the provided education, but instruction also reflects the practical demands placed on contemporary musical artists. For this reason, the concept of the field of study has developed from a single study plan to greater variability, particularly at the master's level, with a number of electable subjects and the possibility of choosing a specific focus of studies. Students thus have a greater ability to influence their studies based on their preferences and background.