As one of his country's most famous musicians, by 1927 Nielsen led a very busy life of composing, travelling, and conducting. His only orchestral work of that year was the Rhapsodic Overture, subtitled "An Imaginary Journey to the Faroe Islands." It was written for a pair of concerts in which a group of fifty Faroese singers were to perform some of their national songs at Copenhagen's Royal Theatre. Typically, Nielsen worked right up to the last minute on his contribution to the concerts; his Overture was premiered at the first of the two, on November 27, 1927. It turned out that the Faroese singers themselves were unable to make the concerts due to a flu epidemic. Then, ironically, travelling to Denmark for the rescheduled concerts, they were held up by a hurricane in the Atlantic (Nielsen's Overture depicts in part a stormy sea voyage).

Nielsen thought little of his Overture, calling it "only a piece of jobbery." Written in between the Flute and Clarinet Concertos, the Overture (more properly a symphonic poem, of which Nielsen wrote very few) is in fact an interesting work and very typical of his late style. Soft timpani rolls establish a sense of mystery and gloom. Gradually, the strings intone an unsettled melody, and a lonely French horn sings out. Brass fanfares threaten, but a noble tune wins out and builds to an impressive climax. Nielsen here employs a Faroese folk song, "Easter bells chime softly," which at the time was well known in Denmark. The music is cheerful, even triumphant towards the end, but ends quietly.

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