Impending!, Op. 4 - Alexandre Casaccia

Op. 4 – IMPENDING! (2026) — ca. 12′

Commissioned as the original score for the documentary Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Health—produced by Mackenzie Everett for SoundByteWorks, George Town

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEHgpKEiVQ

Suite for orchestra · ca. 12′ · Four cues

3[1.2.pic] 3[1.2.Eh] 3[1.2.bcl] 3[1.2.cbn] – 4 3 3 1 – tmp+2 – hp, cel, pf – str

View score · Listen to the audio documentary · Discuss a performance

Programme note:

Impending! was composed for Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Health, an educational audio documentary produced by Mackenzie Everett for SoundByteWorks. The source text presents climate change principally as a public-health crisis, tracing consequences ranging from heat-related illness and respiratory and cardiovascular disease to infectious disease, psychological trauma and displacement, while considering the unequal burden borne by populations with fewer resources for adaptation. This human focus gives the score a clear artistic premise: rather than turning catastrophe into spectacle, Casaccia responds with gentle tension, reduced event density and restrained textures. While the unusually large orchestra reflects the possibilities of the studio medium, offering an extensive reservoir of timbral resources, the composer draws on these resources with deliberate selectivity.

The score is shaped through shifting timbral relationships at restrained dynamic levels. Harp and celesta are given unusual foreground prominence, with woodwinds and strings adjusting to their acoustic scale rather than overwhelming them; orchestral balance is thus repeatedly determined by its quietest colours. Melodic material is similarly reduced: a rising sixth forms the principal recurring gesture, later inverted and expanded into a falling seventh, which assumes the character of an impending motive and at times suggests the ticking of a clock. The first cue’s indication, “Calm, faintly disquieting,” aptly describes the prevailing tinta: sober, mildly dissonant and often coloured by polytonal associations, yet never sentimental, tragic or overtly anxious.

This restraint does not amount to neutrality. The narration is rarely illustrated through literal tone painting, but the orchestral atmosphere unmistakably acknowledges the gravity of the subject. Slow harmonic movement, restrained dynamics, a deliberately thinned middle register and the recurring sixth–seventh gesture create a sense of approaching consequence without resorting to theatrical climax. In Impending!, accompaniment becomes a study in its own right: melodic and linear development recede, while timbre, spacing and orchestral colour carry the principal expressive burden. Against this shifting orchestral background, Delanie Mora’s narration remains firmly in the foreground; its distinctive transnational vocal character subtly reinforces the documentary’s concern with unequal global vulnerability.

About the Narrator

Delanie Mora (Dela) is a Filipino-American voice actress and voice director based in Northern California. Active professionally in voiceover for more than a decade, she works across video games, animation, ADR, audio dramas, narration, commercials and promotional media. Her practice also encompasses voice matching, improvisation and character and creature performance, supported by a professional broadcast-quality recording studio. Her credits include Naraka: Bladepoint, Victory Heat Rally, Hero Siege, and numerous independent games and animated productions. A multi-award-nominated artist, Dela combines vocal versatility, character-driven performance and professional studio expertise across international creative productions.

Composition: Como, 27 Aug–22 Sep 2026; final authorial text completed 22 Sep 2026

Form/structure: 4-cue suite — M1. Calm, faintly disquieting, […]

Performing-medium series: SUITE FOR ORCHESTRA No. 1

Instrumentation:

1 PICCOLO, 2 FLUTES, 2 OBOES, 1 ENGLISH HORN, 2 CLARINETS (in B♭), 1 BASS CLARINET, 2 BASSOONS, 1 CONTRABASSOON, 4 HORNS, 3 TRUMPETS, 3 TROMBONES, 1 TUBA, TIMPANI, PERCUSSION SET (2 pl.), 1 HARP, 1 CELESTA, 1 PIANO, VIOLINS I & II, VIOLAS, CELLOS, DOUBLE BASSES

Publications:

– Casaccia, Alexandre. Impending!, Op. 4. Score. Self-published edition, 10 Oct 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22335711

– Climate Change and Its Impact on Human Health. Educational audio documentary, 25′10″; production: Mackenzie Everett, SoundByteWorks; narration: Delanie Mora (Dela); original score composition (Impending!, Op. 4), music production and mixing: Alexandre Casaccia. First broadcast, 28 Sep 2026. Self-published by authorisation of SoundByteWorks, 10 Oct 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22336097; also uploaded to YouTube (10 Oct 2026).

Note. The publication dates above refer to the initial partial releases of M1 in score and audio form. Publication of M2–M4 was deferred at Mackenzie Everett’s request. The respective concept DOIs identify the continuing records, including subsequent releases.