), are: While Arnold did not title the four pieces individually, his music publisher (Novello & Co) has provided notes,[2] which are often employed by annotators for orchestral and concert programs.
The song-like and graceful third dance evokes "a calm summer's day in the Hebrides"; while the last is "a lively fling.
The composer also employs comic elements, such as a "tipsy" middle section in the second dance, in which the ensemble abruptly slows from a lively vivace to meno mosso (quarter note = 112), whereupon a single bassoon plays a plodding solo marked by upward and downward slides, or glissandi, as well as staggering, syncopated rhythms.
(Beethoven employs a solo bassoon for somewhat similar comic effect in the rustic third-movement scherzo — "Merry Gathering of Country Folk" — of his Pastoral Symphony.)
The first performance was given at the Royal Festival Hall on 8 June 1957 with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by the composer.