Symphonic Variations occupied Bax's creative attention for the entire span of the Great War—indeed there is a pencilled notation in the manuscript, acknowledging the signing of the armistice, which is one of the few items of evidence we have that Bax recognized anything of the events reshaping Europe. It is a monumental work which exists in at least three other versions—one omitting Youth and making significant cuts in Variations III through VI, one which merely simplifies the piano part and the third an arrangement for two pianos. It is also a pivotal work in understanding Bax's output, since it caused so much perplexity when it first appeared.

What troubled the critics—apart from their inability to agree on anything—was that they remained uncertain of the composer's direction. Nobody argued that he was now an artist of stature and achievement—it was simply that they couldn't agree on the nature of the achievement. Some critics felt Symphonic Variations treated a pitifully poor theme in a grand and majestic manner. Sorabji, on the other hand, dubbed it "...incontestably one of the finest concerted works of the present day..." The public seemed not to share the professional's angst and Harriet Cohen toured with it successfully for years. It is probably also true to say, from the perspective of Bax's artistic development, that without Symphonic Variations there would have been no Winter Legends—which would indeed be tragic.

The principal problem of the piece is one of form and balance. Unlike the perfection he sought to achieve in Spring Fire and later in the symphonies, here Bax's experiment with the 'arch' form fails miserably—especially in the juxtaposition of the ultimate triumph of the coda with the preceding weakly-scored variation. The whole piece ends leaving one with an uncomfortable feeling of 'so what?' But this is not to say the music has no value—on the contrary, it is probably one of the underplayed masterpieces in the Bax catalogue, given its limitations. It does require a pianist of prodigious ability, large hands and great stamina, however and one who can carry off the direct quotes from Grieg and subtle inferences of Skriabin without a hint of plagiarism or saccharine. The manuscript score was lost when Queen's Hall was destroyed during the Blitz in 1941, but Chappell (the publisher) later found a full set of parts, so the masterpiece need remain hidden no longer.

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