Guess what happens next? (2024) – A concert inspired by The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My.

06/03/2025

In collaboration with Moomin museum and Moomin Characters.

Text and pictures by Tove Jansson

1111/1011/perc./hp/pno/11111, narrator, pictures

A charming musical story for the whole family where anything can happen. What kind of sound could the Hattifatteners make? And where do Moomintroll and Mumblebee find the missing Little My? A dramatised musical fairy tale takes the audience on an exciting adventure.

Commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra. The work was written with the help of Finnish Cultural Foundation.

The work was produced in collaboration with Moomin Characters, Moomin Rights & Brand and Moomin museum Tampere.

Review

"Minna Leinonen and Tove Jansson's exciting milk run ended safely at home.

Composer Minna Leinonen's music for Tove Jansson's picture book Kuinkas sitten kävikään? (Guess what happenes next?) broadened listeners' thinking about what kinds of "instruments" can be used to make music. The sound of the symphony orchestra and music composed for children underwent a transformation. Minna Leinonen's music was inspired by the colors and moods of Tove Jansson's illustrations from the very beginning of the concert's planning, in collaboration with director and dramaturge Meri-Maija Näykki. Actor Henri Välikangas conveyed the story expressively, and the Pori Sinfonietta, conducted by Kimmo Tullila, threw itself into the performance without restraint. In the most intense scenes, the percussionist's thunderous cymbals and rattles carried the audience into the eye of the storm. The electric charge of the hattivattis was ingeniously achieved by the wind players "rattling" metal plates. The first major vacuum cleaner scene in orchestral literature, as far as we know, broadened the audience's thinking about what kinds of "instruments" can be used to make music."

Kaija Huida, Satakunnan kansa 23th November 2025