Once upon a time there was An orchestral fairy tale

Did you know that orchestras can create fairy tales? Frederick Delius did! He composed his tone poem called Eventyr (Once Upon a Time) for orchestra in 1917. Inspired by a fairy tale from Norway, "Eventyr", which means "adventure", premiered in London on 11 January 1919, under the direction of Henry Wood. After an introduction, the bassoons and then the other woodwinds play a fantastic theme. The strings play a second theme, which becomes more intense with the addition of another subject in counterpoint. Several climactic moments happen before the creation of a fairy world, which is characterized by a descending chromatic theme for strings, celesta, and harp. The piece concludes with the return of earlier material and ends with a quiet closing section.