In 1892 he married Aino Järnefelt. Her father was a general and very keen on the Finnish language. The Finnish were trying more and more at this time to be free of rule by Russia. Sibelius wrote more patriotic music during the 1890s e.g. the tone poem "En Saga" and the "Lemminkäinen" legends which include the popular "The Swan of Tuonela". His patriotic tone poem "Finlandia" is still very popular today. His music at this time was influenced by Wagner and Tchaikovsky. He also heard Finnish folk melodies and, although he does not use them directly in his music, they became part of his musical language. In 1897 he was given a state pension which helped him financially although for many years he was still very often short of money because he had expensive tastes.