Sibbe Live!: Dreamer’s Forgotten Songs – Music by Juhani Pohjanmies

Juhani Pohjanmies (1893–1959) was a legend in his own lifetime. He was a versatile artist: an organist trained by Oskar Merikanto and Leipzig Conservatory, a composer taught by Melartin, a church musician, a choir director, a music teacher. In addition to all this, he designed a large number of organs, developed all kinds of experimental musical instruments, painted, and wrote aphorisms, legends and science fiction.

Juhani Pohjanmies worked in Jyväskylä for a long time before transferring to work for Kangasala organ factory as organ designer and builder.

He is the man behind Kuubalainen serenadi (Cuban serenade), but his more serious lied works are widely forgotten after the 1930s. A skilled pianist, Pohjanmies performed some of his songs with Alma Kuula, among others during the 1920s. Edition Hansen published eight songs.

Programme of songs composed to texts by Finnish poets

"There are a lot of songs. We have received some 20 interesting songs from Pohjanmies family, composed to texts by Finnish poets (Juhani Siljo, Einari Vuorela, Aleksis Kivi, among others). The concert’s programme consists of these songs with a few piano pieces as well as a cycle titled Runokuvia. The latter includes poem recitations with a piano piece inspired by each poem. Pohjanmies performed the cycle together with his wife, poet reader Lii Hannukkala."

A biography of Pohjanmies, written by his daughter Hannele Pohjanmies, was recently published (Kuutamoprinssi, Basam Books, 2024). Exhibition on Juhani Pohjanmies is open at the Sibelius Museum until 1.6.2025.