Intimate Temporal Resonances: A Composition Portfolio

Abstract

During my seven years of doctoral studies at Harvard (from 2018 to 2025), I made 15 works in total, 8 of which are enclosed in this composition portfolio. Although this wasn’t clear to me from the beginning, approximately halfway through the program I became aware that vulnerability stands at the center of my work. It behaves like a gravitational force that shapes and colors all the parameters and aspects of my music, pulling them in, reshaping and creating a mirror of the self, pleading for attention. I couldn’t ignore it anymore; I had to admit it and fully acknowledge its presence and transformative potential – first to myself, and then to others. The notion of vulnerability can be traced in all of these pieces, in various forms and scales. Sometimes it’s something I say (intimate confessions), sometimes, something I don’t say (they are implicitly present but hidden), and sometimes, it’s what I experience through sound. In f l e s h (2019), the shift from pure tone to distortion and noise, along with physically demanding instrumental lines, mirrors internal pressure and emotional strain. The piece svi tvoji svetovi (2019) stretches harmonic progression and resonance over time, exposing fragility through slowness and introspection. With Kontakt (2021), war-related sound objects (such as air raid sirens and helicopters) combine into a dense, overwhelming sonic mass, confronting trauma and reflecting the impact of PTSD. This deep focus on sonic material continues in resound (2021), where electroacoustic techniques zoom into microscopic sonic details, stretching resonances and harmonies until the emergence of voice as a direct expression of the inner self. In Nebulae (2022), the electric guitar’s distorted sound meets floating textures, while the arrival of a love song at the end creates a feeling of disorientation and transcendence. A different kind of inward focus emerges in brightness (2022), where harmonic reduction and extreme slowness turn listening inward, with a whispered prayer marking a moment of reflection and spiritual connection. Finally, in spektrum . spektra (2025), a single pitch expands into a multi-layered sonic world, where the electric guitar explicitly connects to my late father (his musical influence and the absence after his passing), transforming inherited sonic memories into an immersive, cathartic experience. Paradoxically, my very first piece of this period (sh[out], 2018) is a full disclosure of intimacy, one that literally and transparently exposes a highly emotionally charged personal content. Yet, at that time, internally and externally, I wasn’t ready to process and categorize this output. My understanding of it has gradually shifted, from avoidance to the recognition of a compulsive need to feed in the cycle of re-experiencing pain, and this has eventually evolved into an awareness and embrace of an enlightening moment – when someone who has carried the weight of unresolved burden for years is starting to wake up. This is a very precious moment to me – a turning point that redefines the narrative in which the subject is not telling a story anymore, nor are they directing everyone’s attention toward one specific point. Contrary to any glimpse of voyeurism, this mutual process of reconstructing the sonic and mental space between artist and audience forms an environment that enables and encourages self-reflection. It is a polyphony of the mirroring of shared emotions and experiences, a weaving of thoughts and impressions that lie at the core of human existence. The body of work that I made during my doctorate, in retrospect, represents an effort to engage the audience on a fundamental level; it is an invitation for everyone to allow and encounter their own inner spaces while being submerged in a subtly altered perception through the lens of sound. Ultimately, my music aims to spark introspection, catharsis, and personal growth.