This comprehensive study of the evolution of Finnish art music from continental predecessors and native folk music traces the development of Sibelius's musical language from his first major work, Kullervo, the first genuine Finnish recitative, to the last tone poem, Tapiola. De Gorog asserts the importance of En Saga, Sibelius's first major, purely orchestral work, as a composition that affirms the composer's belief in both rhythm and in the variation method (the germ motif technique). The impact of folk music on the germ motif technique as well as on melody, phrase...