Erkko Juhana Henrik (1849-1906)

Sibelius and J. H. Erkko worked closely together in the early 1890s. In the summer of 1893, Sibelius composed the opera *The Building of the Boat* based on the poet’s text. The work was never completed, but as a byproduct of their collaboration, the songs *March of the Working People* (1893) and *In the Morning Mist* (1896) were born, both with texts by Erkko.
Towards the end of the decade, Sibelius was still planning to compose music for some of Erkko’s poems for choir, but then their collaboration faded. During the Ainola period, their interactions were minimal. Erkko lived “far away,” behind Halosenniemi, and passed away already in 1906.