Bax composed his Sinfonietta at a time when his invention was beginning to flag. Finished in May 1932, the Sinfonietta came on the heels of the Fifth Symphony, with which it shares the same sound world.

On his manuscript score of the Sinfonietta, Bax inscribed "Symphonic Phantasy," but when he gave it to conductor Christopher Whelen for his perusal, he referred to it as a sinfonietta, prompting Whelen to write, "Arnold's Sinfonietta" on the score. Later, Bax used this title in the article on his music for the fifth edition of George Grove's Dictionary of Music. Neither Whelen nor any other conductor performed the piece while Bax was alive and the composer withheld the score from publication. It was first performed, for a recording, on June 23, 1983, by the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra, directed by Vernon Handley, in the BBC Studio One. On December 23, 1983, the same ensemble gave a broadcast performance of the piece.

Bax's orchestra is typically large, employing three flutes with piccolo, two oboes with English horn, three clarinets with bass clarinet, two bassoons with contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, harp, percussion, and strings. Bax's attempt to write three movements in one continuous piece may have been suggested by a similar procedure used by Sibelius in his Seventh Symphony, composed in 1924.

Despite its title, the Sinfonietta is an extended work lasting about 24 minutes. In three continuous movements, the piece begins Molto moderato with the theme played by quiet strings over an even quieter drum roll. Immediately, Bax's typical contrasting tone colors come to the fore as the English horn begins a transformation of the theme against a background of harp and winds. An increase in tempo ushers in a chromatic tune in the violins that is filled with restless, dramatic energy. The ensuing slow passage turns out to be a bridge to the sonata-form movement proper; it is only at this moment that we realize everything thus far has been introductory. The Allegro deciso ma moderato is diminutive and looks back to the Fifth Symphony in its atmosphere. The tempo continues through the section, regardless of thematic material, and pushes to the coda with its powerful, Molto più lento e maestoso climax.

Returning to the opening tempo, the second movement begins without pause after the first. Woodwinds provide the background for a fluid theme on the oboe that is reminiscent of the English horn melody in the introduction to the first movement. In this lyrical movement, themes tend to spin out and transform almost continuously.

Lyricism ends as the Allegro finale begins. Rhythm drives the principal theme, which is combined with the opening idea of the piece, significantly transformed, near the end of the movement. The coda is unfortunately loud and brash.

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