Eventyr (Once Upon a Time) . . .

Frederick Delius composed his tone poem 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. Following a twenty-bar introduction, the bassoons and then the other woodwinds play a fantastic theme. The strings play a second subject, which intensifies with the addition of another subject in counterpoint. Several climactic moments ensue before the creation of a fairy world, which is dominated 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.