“Heikki has no time for things that have no soul. That’s why he does not sit in the study and compose. Heikki ‚hears‘ music when he wanders in nature”
— Heikki Hallanoro
The Finnish composer and pianist Heikki Hallanoro discovered Saturn’s rings as an astronomer, plays drums in a punk band called Plan E, writes his own music and sets novels by other authors from his home country to music. He is the fourth most-listened-to Finnish pianist on Spotify, travels from his hometown of Oulu to the whole world, tours relentlessly with his piano ballads, recently made his German debut in Munich, and is releasing his first two albums as a double album on 8 November 2024 with the German label Mons Records.
Heikki plays his pieces on a piano that is over a hundred years old and, according to the musician, ‘has its own memories like an elephant’. He began his life’s work ‘Soul Songs’ during a phase of deep depression and found a way back into the light through it. He doesn’t compose in the traditional way in the studio or at his desk, but hears music when he is out and about in nature – whether near his hometown of Oulu on the Arctic Circle or travelling around the world. ‘Music comes when one is open and experiences the world around,’ says Heikki. His ‘Soul Songs’ No. 3 and No. 6, for example, were created while he was walking the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route in Japan.
“There’s no greater pain than having your soul go unseen.
Come, receive the light”
Heikki Hallanoro
He expresses a wide range of moods through his compositions, from ‘lively’, ‘tender’ and ‘dramatic’ to ‘full of the joy of life’. However, he doesn’t give them names because he doesn’t want to influence the listeners’ individual perception. Each piece can trigger different emotions and memories depending on the time of day, place and general mood: “Songs are continuous and ever-evolving, and they work like magic – since so are we, continuous and ever-changing,” he says.
The present album consists of Vol. 1 & 2 of Heikki Hallanaro’s Soul Songs. Vol. 3 will conclude the trilogy next year. All three parts were recorded at Wolfbeat Studios in Oulu with sound engineer and producer Pentti Amore, under whose wing three gold albums and great chart successes have already been created. Alho Audio Mastering took over the mastering.
Background:
Heikki Hallanoro was once a promising astronomer who discovered the origins of Saturn’s rings. But he was also the son of an alcoholic who played self-composed pieces on the piano from an early age. So music became Heikki’s own kingdom, his safe haven.
When he slid into a deep depression in adulthood, he remembered the pieces he had written as an autodidact in his childhood and gradually his ‘Soul Songs’ helped him to free himself from the crisis. He made them his life’s work, especially when performing them live, and has been touring the world with them ever since.
He became known to a wider audience with his Searchlight Songs, which he self-released in 2023. Instagram Reels of his music have received over 500,000 views. He calls himself ‘Finland’s only piano ballad player,’ which inevitably makes you see Aki Kaurismäki lurking in the shadows.
Besides his own music, Heikki has been playing in the punk band Plan E for many years, published a novel titled Viivalla in 2012 and has repeatedly set novels by other authors to music.