Early reviews of the concerto were mixed, but it has since come to be seen as an attractive, if slight, example of Holst's neoclassical style, and it has been recorded many times.
The Fugal Concerto was composed while Holst was convalescing from a serious fall in which he had struck his head, and from a subsequent nervous breakdown.
Having previously committed himself to conduct his own works at the University of Michigan, he embarked for America on the RMS Aquitania in April 1923, two months after the accident, and began a draft of what he called "The World's Shortest Concerto" (it is about 8 minutes long) during the voyage.
[1][2] Holst scored it for flute and oboe (or two violins) and string orchestra; he also published a version with the orchestral part reduced for piano.
Indeed, Mr Holst has here come nearer to formal perfection than in any of his previous works, without abandoning his individual point of view.
His daughter Imogen Holst judged that "the punctilious formality...is gracious compared with the calculated violence of the Fugal Overture,"[21] and Clement Short thought it "light and elegant, with typically individual touches such as the displacement of rhythmic motifs and unexpected harmonizations.
"[12] Later 20th century and 21st century CD reviewers wrote of it with enthusiasm: "a complete success",[22] "appealing...cool interplay of wind colour", "a beautifully crafted triptych of miniatures", "delightful...a nice example of early neo-classicism, which does not sound in the least pedagogic",[23] "a light but craftsmanly piece...The cheeky end is a sure pointer to the composer's sense of humour.