Completed 1925; first performance in Helsinki, 9th March 1925 (Helsinki City Orchestra under Jean Sibelius). Piano arrangement 1925.

The work was composed for a festive occasion connected with the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. Sibelius conducted some of his short pieces and at the end of the evening produced a surprise: he had arranged a small romantic piece based on a waltz theme by his friend, the industrialist Jakob von Julin. After the performance Mannerheim himself presented Sibelius with a splendid laurel wreath.

The manuscript of the work, with dedications by Sibelius and Mannerheim, was sold for a large sum. The piano arrangement, too, raised a sizeable amount of money for a project to build a children’s hospital.