Op. 5 – LABYRINTH (2026) — ca. 12′
Dedicated to the concert pianist and pedagogue Riccardo Insinga
Programme note:
Labyrinth is a three-movement piano cycle whose concentrated lyrical idiom emerges from an economical yet finely differentiated repertory of materials. On the surface, the music is disarmingly direct—stepwise melodies, clearly articulated tonal functions, and accompanimental figuration in regular rhythms—while the underlying writing remains tightly argued. Throughout, a characteristic dialectic opposes descending, conjunct, gravitational figures to rising, arpeggiated gestures: a play of lamento (L) and élan vital (A), projected horizontally and vertically in melody, harmony, and texture. Neither profile recurs as a fixed motive; rather, each assumes a distinct form in each movement.
The opening movement, Impulse-Echo, introduces this idiom within a compact tripartite design freely derived from sonata-form principles. A brief introduction, based on the insistent repetition of a four-note compound form of L, establishes the tonal centre, rhythmic vocabulary, and expressive character of the movement. The ensuing twofold exposition is defined less by thematic contrast than by tempo, texture, and motivic density: a restless first section keeps A and L in continuous contrapuntal interaction, while a slower cantabile section brings L to the foreground over a simpler accompaniment. Between them, the opening sixteenth-note figuration returns in a mysterious rallentando, forming a threshold between the two sections. A central development (Durchführung) fragments and redistributes the two profiles in continuous modulation before a compressed recapitulation mirrors the exposition in reverse, briefly recalling the slower material in canon before reinstating the opening texture.
The central movement, Memory, offers a single cantabile paragraph governed by a parabolic conception: its main body in E minor—subdominant to the outer movements—is framed by E-flat minor passages functioning as an enharmonic tensive dominant region. The tripartite plan—presentation, intensification, reprise—traces a complementary arc of accumulation and release. A descending line (L) unfolds almost unadorned in long phrases before inverting and rising towards cadence (A). At the central climax—and therefore at the centre of the cycle—the opening descent returns, preceded by a forceful upward fifth intensified by sforzandi and emphatic repetition in the bass. This upward leap anticipates both the later form of L and the motivic pivot, the point of conjunction between A and L in the final movement.
The final movement, Parable, adopts a theme-and-variations design and renders the parabolic idea explicit in the profile of its theme. A rising arpeggiated gesture is linked to a descending conjunct line, bringing A and L together in succession within a single thematic statement without effacing their separate identities. Across five concise variations, the two profiles remain in active relation: they are separated, redistributed, superimposed, and brought into contrapuntal interaction, while the descending component may extend into broader scalar motion and gradually emerge as the dominant force. Harmonically, the movement reasserts B minor and functions as a summa in which the work’s underlying trajectory is progressively clarified. Taken as a whole, Labyrinth reads as a single coherent curve, its three movements tracing the changing relation between two opposed profiles while offering complementary vantage points on a restricted repertory of related diatonic contours, continually renewed by harmonic and rhythmic reframing.
Composition: Como, May–Jul 2025 (s. 1), as revision/consolidation from earlier sources (cf. Textual history / genealogy); Sep–Oct 2026 (s. 2); final authorial text completed 12 Oct 2026
Form/structure: 3-movement cycle — I. Impulse-Echo; II. Memory; III. Parable
Performing-medium series: PIANO CYCLE No. 1
Instrumentation: SOLO PIANO
Textual history / genealogy:
The genealogy records documented relationships among sources at the level of individual movements. The arrows mark genetic links involving transmission, reconfiguration, and eventual absorption of earlier material into the cycle. Unless otherwise indicated, dates refer to the Patamu deposit dates of the relevant witnesses. Obsolete Op. numbers are reproduced, where available, as recorded in the cited sources and solely to aid identification; they carry no classificatory weight in this catalogue. Key indications give the tonal centre attested in the source and the final tonal placement adopted in Op. 5. Individual movement genealogies cite only witnesses that mark a significant textual or genealogical development; purely redundant transmissions may be omitted.
I. Impulse-Echo — Suite Lirica (seven-piece) Op. 1b, No. 1 Lieve, fugace; largo (15 Feb 2022). C♯ → B minor
II. Memory — Notturno (19 Aug 2020), with a coda derived from the unfinished Fantasia (Tre Pezzi, No. 3) → Quattro Pezzi, No. 3 Largo (18 Sep 2020) → Suite Lirica (four-piece), No. 1 Largo elegiaco; presto; largo (21 Apr 2021) → Suite Lirica (seven-piece), Op. 1b, No. 4 Largo elegiaco; quasi tempo I; andante; largo (15 Feb 2022). E♭/E minor dialectic retained
III. Parable — Suite Lirica (seven-piece) Op. 1b, No. 3 Desolato, tragico; quasi doppio mov.t; placato (15 Feb 2022). C → B minor
Note. When, in May 2025, Casaccia set out to consolidate his earlier piano output and fixed the sixteen-prelude architecture of Aspiration to Enfold All—in the state later incorporated as Book II of Op. 7—he simultaneously confirmed a separate destiny for the remaining Suite Lirica movements, which were reserved for the piano triptych. The intensive tonal reconfiguration undertaken for Op. 7, Book II—his first systematic use of key displacement across inherited materials—appears to have provided both the technical model and the stimulus for binding Op. 5 into a B-minor–centred cycle in dialogue with the newly ordered prelude set (cf. Op. 7, Textual history / genealogy).
– s. 1 (Jul 2025): early piano triptych state with working titles: Triptych – Toccata, Elegy, Variations; three-movement B-minor cycle already consolidated in final order; digital autograph uploaded to IMSLP on 07 Jul 2025.
– s. 2 (Oct 2026): revised digital autograph; significant counterpoint clarifications at both textual and engraving levels; final authorial text.
Publications:
– Casaccia, Alexandre. Labyrinth, Op. 5. Score. Self-published edition, 12 Oct 2026. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17833537; also available on IMSLP (internal ref. number IAC 14) → Reflects s. 2
Rights: © 2026 Alexandre Casaccia. All rights reserved.
Score preview: