Esa Pietilä with String Quartet

New album: Aphelium Journeys with Skatta String Quartet!

Aphelium Journeys is a bold, poetic voyage through three contemporary chamber works by composer and saxophonist Esa Pietilä. Scored for two string quartets and one work for saxophone and string quartet, the album traces a path from elemental contrast, through inner landscapes, to emotional ignition — a series of deeply personal musical journeys.

Aphelium — the point in an orbit farthest from the sun — becomes a metaphor for creative distance and transformation: the outer edge where clarity sharpens, where voice and vision are refined through space, intensity, and return.

“These are not linear stories, but elliptical paths — each one reaching outward before circling back to something essential.”

-Esa Pietilä

Tracks:

ICONS OF BLUE, BLACK & SUN, String Quartet No. 2 (2022) (Fennica Gehrman)

1 I. Blue 6:40

2 II. Black 10:14

3 III. Sun 5:19

VALLEYS OF SOLILOQUY, String Quartet No. 3 (2025) (Fennica Gehrman)

4 I. Murmurs in Shadow 12:17

5 II. Folded Light 4:37

6 III. The Distant Voice 10:03

7 BLAZING FLAMES, for Tenor Saxophone and String Quartet (2018) (Fennica Gehrman)

Skatta String Quartet:

Erkki Lasonpalo , violin

Aleksi Kotila, violin

Max Savikangas, viola

Artturi Aalto, cello

Recorded at Church of St. Lawrence, Vantaa, Finland,
June 2.–4.2025
Recording, mixing & mastering: Enno Mäemets at Editroom
Recording producer: Viive Mäemets
Producer: Esa Pietilä
Cover Design: Sanna Vauhkonen
Executive producer: Petri Mäkiharju

Supported by: Niilo Helanderin Säätiö, Madetoja-säätiö
& Taiteen edistämiskeskus

Alba Records. Album release Oct. -25.