This piece was the result of a discussion with clarinetist Peter Cigleris, for whom it was written, about the nature of solo performance on a instrument such as the clarinet. I suggested that perhaps they could be heard as telling the stories to the audience. I was reminded of the essay by philosopher Walter Benjamin which has the same title, and in which he explained that the art of storytelling was being lost as a result of widespread literacy and the rise of the novel. The same change has not happened in music. I was also reminded of the Legends, a set of orchestral pieces by Dvořák. However, whereas Dvořák had specific folk tales in mind, I have no idea what these stories are about, and audiences can make up their own minds about the four separate stories 'told' to them by the performer.