selected releases

PNEUMA

Pneuma explores breath as subject and material. Single release from Interbody.

Interbody (Multiphonic Works 30.4.2026) examines time from the perspective of the human body: geological, experiential, and corporeal time as embodied experience. At its core is the tenor saxophone, extended through a self-built sampler organism that responds in real time to pitch and volume. A degree of randomness is built into the system, creating an unpredictable polyphonic counterpart to the performer, merging improvisation and algorithmic processes, the human and the machine-organism, and keeping the performer on their toes.

CHRONOVARIATIONS

CHRONOVARIATIONS (Multiphonic Works 2024) is an award-winning experimental 3D-sound piece for tenor saxophone, live electronics, resonating metal objects, and a space with a magnificent acoustics.

Winner of the Finnish Critics’ Association’s ’Kritiikin Kannukset’ honorary prize 2025 for the year’s biggest artistic breakthrough. Nominee for the 2024 Jazz Emma Prize, the Finnish equivalent of the Grammys.

Recorded in the Medieval Nousiainen Church in western Finland, CHRONOVARIATIONS harnesses the building’s acoustics as one of the instruments Using electromagnetic actuator loudspeakers attached to metal objects scattered throughout the church, Hartikainen transforms these objects into unconventional sound sources, resulting in distinct distortions and fascinating harmonics.

Of the themes at the centre of CHRONOVARIATIONS, Hartikainen says, “Time represents the creation of an ever-evolving space and atmosphere where gradual, almost imperceptible changes cause a temporal drift. Resonance symbolises the holistic nature of experiencing music and sound, whether the tools used are ancient or high-tech. Unfolding is the album’s dramaturgical motion from internal to external: from the smallest sounds on the cusp of audibility to overflowing sonority; from muted and compressed to bright and full.”

The album’s recording process was meticulous, with a focus on capturing the textural details of each sound. A sophisticated ambisonic microphone setup, including a ”microphone tree” comprising eight Schoeps ORTF-3D condenser microphones, was used to achieve a 360-degree sound recording, providing listeners with a truly immersive experience.

ANTIPHONIA

Antiphonia (Untempo Postcards 2025)

Antiphonia is an imaginary, unwritten choir piece, inspired by an idea of polychoral singing. Only this time, it is a choir of overlapping saxophones, and the melody simultaneously starts at 60 bpm and 63 bpm. The layers of saxophones weave and tumble through each other, creating a sea of sound, wooshing over the cumulatively overlapping material, sinking into the sound itself, and weaving continuously shifting harmonies.

LIVE AT NOMEN NESCIO FESTIVAL

Recording of the Heli Hartikainen and Noise Trees live performance at Nomen Nescio Festival, organized by Nomen Nescio and Post—Rift, January 2024 in Helsinki. (Post-Rift 2024)

STUDY ON OVERTONES /
IMPROVISATION AT STÄLLBERGS GRUVA

Study on Overtones / Improvisation at Ställbergs gruva (Why Keith Dropped the S 2024)

Hartikainen was selected as Finland’s representative composer for a residency at Ställbergs Gruva, an abandoned iron ore mine, where the recording took place. Through site-specific explorations, questions were asked about the location’s specificity: what significance does it have, to whom does it belong, and what is its relationship to change and transformation? The acoustics of the hall were extraordinary; the overtones resonated with astonishing brightness. The rich overtones of the saxophone made the improvisation sound polyphonic, with complex, interwoven layers of melody and harmony.

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