Music Finland Core

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The title of my work Levitations (2023) has its roots in the Latin word ‘levitas’, meaning lightness. In the superconductors of electromagnetism, which try to develop lossless transfer of energy, a magnet floats in the air like a character in a horror film or a divine saint. The apparent subversion of our fundamental limitations is by turns science, art, faith, or captivating magic – a matter of convention? Like modern physics, which is often delightful in the poeticism of its settings (that sometimes turn out to be stagings), the social habit called music contributes to the study of hallucinations created by invisible forces and, under certain conditions, takes flight before us in a way that even quantum mechanics cannot explain. We call it ‘a live performance’. In my compositional presentations, I try to bring the materials of my sound sources to life, to sound out their vital materiality, to release the cry of matter itself.Being so intimately intertwined with various acoustic phenomena, especially concert music (there’s an outright coda!), Levitations may not need further verbal introductions. In my own biased opinion, it is an upbeat but listening, witty and mischievous but fascinatingly sensitive piece, embodying at the same time a kind of bristling innocence but also an uninhibitedly pansexual rogue – in a word, a ‘multiphonic’, or polyphony. (But, dear critic, don’t write my words in your review, come up with more apt ones yourself! Or you can use that multiphonic thing…) In my personal life, my compositional work was influenced by my wife’s wonderful Kurtág Kafka Fragments project, the torturous otitis media in my left ear with its autophonic after-effects, and my infatuation with electric guitar pedals.The Hai-kvartetti (‘Shark Quartet’) – Klaara Vasara, Annaroosa Lampela, Antto Tunkkari and Maritta Manner – an inspiring new generation of energetic musicians, commissioned the composition with the support of the Madetoja Foundation (Madetoja-säätiö), and I hope they got what they asked for; I tried to make it lifelike 🙂© 2023 Jarkko Hartikainen

Year of composing

Arranger

Movements

Availability

Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin