In Croatian history, music as part of culture has been and remains today an essential and as engaging a segment as any, regardless of the fact that it has not always been comparably presented or received in all periods and settings. If we look back to the past of Croatian music our glance will frequently fall on some of its pillars, the likes of composers Julije Skjavetić, Ivan Lukačić or Luka Sorkočević, whose opuses corresponded with general musical trends, namely, with West European tendencies and the evolution of music and musical art, or in other words, with the culture of the times. A closer look at the present and future will essentially reveal the mark of the heritage and tradition of musical concepts established by the Music Biennial Zagreb over the course of the last forty years.

The history of Croatian music is, however, much richer and diverse, given that intensified and institutionalised efforts and activities of experts, primarily yet not exclusively of musicologists, but composers and performers too, have led to the gradual penetration of tradition, both from long ago and the more recent past, into everyday life and its transformation into a living heritage.

Today we are witnessing, for example, an increased interest in and revaluation of numerous works created in the 20th century, of which a large number has either been neglected or inadequately studied. A similar approach is applied when examining the opuses of such composers as, for instance, Ivan Zajc, to whom, in the appropriate and precise words of the composer Zoran Juranić, Zagreb owes its musical existence.

Regardless of the fact that music as an art requires equal or even enhanced and in any case quite specific conditions and that it is faced with numerous problems, just like the other arts and fields of scientific work, it can be said that today in Croatia and gradually in the world too, its tree is incessantly sprouting new branches, enlarging its crown and spreading ever deeper roots in all areas and genres.