Music is, for me, like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.

Jean Sibelius ([About this sound] pronunciation (help·info); born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius) (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic period. With this music in mind Sibelius began work on an opera of his own entitled Veneen luominen (The Building of the Boat). While thematic variation played a major role in the works of both composers Mahler's style made use of disjunct abruptly changing and contrasting themes while Sibelius sought to slowly transform thematic elements.

Like Beethoven Sibelius used each successive work to further develop his own personal compositional style. Jean Sibelius ([About this sound] pronunciation (help·info); born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius) (8 December 1865 – 20 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic period. However after completing his Seventh Symphony (1924) the incidental music to The Tempest (1926) and the tone poem Tapiola (1926) he produced no large scale works for the remaining thirty years of his life.