WASTELAND (2024) – 3′50″
Commissioned for a transdisciplinary performance event involving acousmatic pieces, photographs and art films
Instrumentation: ACOUSMATIC
PIANO (PREPARED/UNPREPARED) AND WINE BOTTLES
Premiere: 20 Oct. 2024, Mare Culturale Urbano, Milan; fixed-media playback
License: © 2024 Alexandre Casaccia (SACEM). Released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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.