The suite is based on incidental music Milhaud wrote for two theatrical productions: Le Médecin volant and Bolivar.

[4][5][6] Movement two takes its theme from music Milhaud composed in 1936 for Jules Supervielle's opera, Bolivar.

[6][7][8] In 1937, the French pianist Marguerite Long asked Milhaud to compose a piano duo for two of her students (Marcelle Meyer and Ida Jankelevitch) to play at the Exposition internationale des arts et des techniques dans la vie moderne.

[12] After his immigration to America during World War II, Milhaud had Scaramouche republished in the United States.

In a section beginning at measure nine, the bass line places emphasis on the first, fourth and seventh quaver beats of a bar.

[23] The second movement hints at the French overture style, used by Johann Sebastian Bach and other Baroque composers.

[25] In Modéré, Milhaud uses dotted rhythms and arpeggios to create a melody that takes cues from folk song.

The saxophonist Jason Stone suggests that this movement was also inspired by Brazilian music, noting Modéré's similarities to the modinha and lundu.

[19] The movement is a samba choro[27] inspired by Milhaud's prior time in Brazil: he had spent two years in Rio de Janeiro serving as secretary to the French ambassador Paul Claudel during the First World War.

There is a diversity of opinions regarding Brazileira's structure: musicologist Hyejeong Seong asserts that it is written in ABCA form,[30] while Jason Stone refers to this movement as a "theme and variations in fast samba".

[35] On the request of the clarinettist Benny Goodman and his teacher Eric Simon, Milhaud arranged the piece for B♭ clarinet and orchestra/piano (Op.165d, published 1941 by Éditions Salabert).

He had refused Simon's suggestion of transposing orchestral parts, stating that it would be impossible to do without a complete rewrite of the piece.

[38] Goodman was said to prefer the arrangement of Scaramouche over Milhaud's more difficult Concerto for Clarinet, which was written specifically for him.

BBC reporter Mark Savage said it was "the indisputable highlight of the Last Night of the Proms",[53] while The Telegraphs' Ivan Hewett called it "a sassy but also subtly moulded performance of Milhaud’s delightful Scaramouche".

[8][28] Scaramouche has become a standard piece in both piano duo and classical saxophone repertoire;[24][55][56] according to musicologist Paul Collaer, the suite "has earned itself an incomparably popular place in twentieth-century two-piano literature".