The Kalevala is a Finnish folk epic, a collection of mythological tales, which was published in the late 19th century. It proved to be a rich source of inspiration for many Finnish artists, the most prominent being the painter Akseli Gallén-Kallela and Jean Sibelius. The two, who were friends, have been closely associated in modern times by the use of the former's paintings to illustrate the covers of recordings of the latter's music.

Sibelius based many of his best-known works on stories from the Kalevala and the tones poems that comprise the Four Legends are no exception as among them is the popular Swan of Tuonela, which contains what is surely one of composer's most poignant shorter works and has one of music's most beautiful solos for cor anglais.

Tapiola was the composer's final major work and was one of his finest achievements. It was completed in 1926 and, although Sibelius was to live for another 31 years, he never again wrote anything of any substance. Tapio, from which this piece takes its name, was the mythological god of the forest in the Kalelvala.