The four work types in Symphonic Fairytales were not invented out of thin air. Our formulation was inspired by four existing Danish works, all of which have used a tale or other narrative form as their model – and all of which have demonstrated their enduring qualities, both as compositions of high quality and as programme items in concerts for children or young people. Apart from the first work (Bent Lorentzen’s comic-book "oratorio" Comics) the work types are already well known in the orchestral literature.

Hans Christian Andersen’s texts have been given many different musical settings in the course of time. In connection with this project Edition SAMFUNDET has defined a number of work concepts among which the composers – although subject to a certain amount of overall coordination – have been able to choose:

The integrated work
The read tale
The orchestral Lied
The tone poem