Wasteland

E.3 – WASTELAND (2025) – 3′50″
Commissioned for a trans-disciplinary performance event involving acousmatic pieces, photographs and art films.

Composition: Como, 02–09 Apr 2025; completed 09 Apr 2025

Form/structure: single-movement (multimedia)

Medium: fixed media (acousmatic); stereo (2 channels)

Sound sources: PIANO (PREPARED & UNPREPARED); WINE-BOTTLES (PERCUSSION)

Premiere: 12 Apr 2025, Mare Culturale Urbano, Milan; fixed-media playback

Publications:
– Casaccia, Alexandre. Wasteland (E.3). Fixed-media recording. Self-published, 11 Nov 2025. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17581551; also uploaded on YouTube (14 Apr 2025).

License: © 2025 Alexandre Casaccia. Released under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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PROGRAM NOTE

Wasteland was originally conceived as the soundtrack to a short film shot by the composer, featuring abandoned buildings with endless corridors. This short acousmatic soundtrack aims to reflect on the sense of imprisonment and anxiety often provoked by modern urban architecture—or, as the film’s title suggested, “cement anxieties”.

Most sound materials are tonal chords produced by a piano, occasionally prepared or dampened, and often filtered to generate tension and unease. The use of empty wine bottles as percussive elements further deepens the acoustic palette. While the harmonic vocabulary remains largely tonal, it is shaped to produce discomfort, allowing for a critical commentary on the alienation of contemporary urban life.