About the piece Attack

Attack is a musical reflection on one of the most fundamental human survival mechanisms – the fight-or-flight response. This instinctive reaction, originally developed to protect against danger, often becomes distorted and harmful in today’s world, especially in the face of prolonged trauma, which can be result of war, illness, loss, or chronic stress.

The piece delves into the condition in which survival mechanisms lose their purpose and become a source of internal destabilization. The autonomic nervous system, attempting to protect the body, turns on itself – causing damage that is invisible, yet lasting. Attack is not a portrait of a single narrative, but an expressive representation of a universal human state, where the body no longer distinguishes between defense and danger. Where the sense of threat has become constant. Where internal tension persists, even when the external danger is gone.

The soundscape of the work shifts between extremes: explosive outbursts reflecting the tension of an overloaded nervous system and ominous silences in which the body struggles to regain balance. These contrasts create a sonic landscape that draws the listener into the inner world of traumatic experience – a world in which the line between reality and bodily response is blurred.

Rather than offering resolution or healing, Attack presents a state of ongoing tension. It does not attempt to close the wound, but instead exposes it, reveals its sonic anatomy, and creates a space for reflection – on how the body and spirit survive, even in decay.

The piece premiered at the Night of Slovenian Composers during the 37th Slovenian Music Days, performed by the Dissonance String Quartet. Later, Attack was also selected for the international 60×60 project in the U.S., which presented 60 compositions each lasting no more than 60 seconds – one of the most unique global projects in contemporary music ( 60×60 Slippery Rock Mix 2023). In 2025, the piece was selected for one of the most prestigious global platforms for contemporary art music – the MATA Festival in New York. Attack was performed as part of the festival on June 13, 2025, by the FLUX Quartet, one of the most prominent contemporary music ensembles in the U.S. (MATA Festival: https://www.matafestival.org/mata-festival-2025). Attack will be performed in Belgrade, Serbia, at the 34. Review of Composers, by the 13 Strings Chamber Ansamble in the Belgrade Philharmonic Hall, further continuing its international journey through spaces that challenge the listener to confront the sonic embodiment of trauma, tension, and human endurance.