Obscure Music Monday: Delius' Eventyr

Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (Jan. 29, 1862 - June 10, 1934) was an English composer, born in to a wealthy family. Delius didn't want to go in to business and commerce like his family, and resisted it as much as possible.Despite the family being heavily involved in commerce, the Delius household liked to entertain musicians often, and Delius found himself a fan of Chopin and Grieg's music. He began taking violin lessons and became quite good, and he enjoyed playing the piano as well. He went on to college, and his father continued to try to get him involved in the family business. Delius would go on to represent his family in business, but would end up neglecting his duties. In frustration, his father sent him to work on an orange plantation in Florida. There he worked on counterpoint and composition, and his father eventually realized how much he loved music, and brought him back so he could study it formally.

Delius wrote many works for orchestra, including Eventyr. This tone poem was written in 1917, and was inspired by a fairy tale from Norway. Delius said of his work, "“Eventyr” is not based on any particular story of Asbjorønsen; it is a résumé-impression of the book…[Asbjørnsen’s are] the old legends still quite alive with lonely peasants, hunters and mountaineers. These people have a naïve belief in the “Underjordiske” (the Underearthly ones), Trolls, Heinzelmännchen, hobgoblins; who either help the humans or, if provoked, become very revengeful. A boy alone in a forest would imagine he heard them trotting after him, and get very frightened. At a wedding or Xmas meal a little dish of cream porridge is put on the loft for these underearthly ones, or else they might be offended – they have been known to fetch girls away (even the bride of a wedding) in such cases and dance with them furiously till they fall down unconscious. A hunter’s luck would depend on their good or bad will. In the queer noises at night in lonely huts and woods you would imagine you heard the hordes of these mysterious beings galloping along in the distance." 

The piece starts quietly and mysteriously, but measure by measure things get more excited and adventurous. Delius puts the legends he spoke of to music with drama, imagination, and playfulness. Like all legends, parts of this work are highly animated, others are meant to be dark and scary, whereas others are calming and peaceful, all attesting to Delius' skill at telling stories musically.

Here are some recordings of this fun work for you to enjoy!

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra