Sibelius composed in 1905 ten parts,[1] overtures to the five acts and five other movements.

It was first performed at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki on 17 March 1905 to a translation by Bertel Gripenberg, conducted by the composer.

[2] Sibelius later slightly rearranged the music into a nine movement suite, published as Op.

[2] The movements were derived from the following numbers: Excluded from the suite is Prelude to Act IV, scene 2, as well as the vocal version of No.

[3] Sibelius later made a transcription of the suite for solo piano, excluding the 'At the Seashore' movement.