It bears the somewhat paradoxical subtitle "Allegro tristamente": accordingly, the piece is always in motion, but proceeds with a sense of grieving.
The clarinet melody in the second movement Romanza begins simply, but is elaborately embroidered in a few places.
Poulenc died suddenly of a heart attack on 30 January 1963 before it was published, and an editor was employed to ascertain the identity of some notes, as well as provide missing dynamics and articulations.
The premiere was given at New York City's Carnegie Hall by Benny Goodman and Leonard Bernstein on 10 April 1963.
Harold C. Schonberg, music critic of The New York Times had this to say: "Poulenc was not a 'big' composer, for his emotional range was too restricted.