Arthur Benjamin's Symphony, one of the composer's major works, was written during the summer holidays of 1943, 1944 and 1945 in Canada. Its intensely dramatic, at times violent character reflects, in the composer's own opinion, the atmosphere of the war years. The Symphony consists of the traditional four movements: a large-scale Allegro preceded by an Introductory Largo; a Scherzo; a slow movement and a final Allegro.