Finnish composer Jean Sibelius personified Finnish nationalism and, through his involvement with Norse mythology and nature, heavily influenced the development of Scandinavian music. Sibelius studied in Helsinki, Berlin, and Vienna, returning to Finland in the early 1890s to compose the Kullervo Symphony (1892), based on the Finnish epic Kalevala. Shortly thereafter, Sibelius wrote En Saga, or "a legend," one of his most remarkable pieces. Finlandia (1899) became the musical symbol of Finland in the wars and political struggles with Germany and the Soviet Union. Sibelius ceased to compose music after 1927. His symphonies and tone poems are heard frequently and are valued for their unique… sonorities and formal logic.