It was during his study years in Vienna that Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) first discovered Finland’s national epic the Kalevala. Soon Sibelius was celebrated in Finland for his Kullervo symphony, a breakthrough work based on one of the stories from the Kalevala. Sibelius continued with his Kalevala themes through the 1890s with his Lemminkäinen Legends and soon his music became nearly entirely associated with the national epic. For this reason, the composer quite quickly distanced himself from the epic by giving more neutral titles to his works from the 1900s onwards. Still, the world of the Kalevala never totally left him and some of his final works, including his symphonic testament, the tone poem Tapiola from 1926, look back into the themes of the Kalevala. This digital album combines together some of Sibelius’ finest compositions inspired by the legends of the Kalevala.