Arthur Honegger's Rugby (1928) takes a place among the composer's best-known orchestral works. Rugby is the second in a series of "mouvements symphoniques" that includes the popular Pacific 231 (1923). These short, intense works took their inspiration in part from purely practical concerns: Honegger observed that orchestras often tended to turn away from modern music, preferring to stick to time-tested repertoire; by expressing his ideas in the compact "mouvement symphonique" format, he hoped to give them greater potential for success among conductors and audiences alike.

Honegger took a special interest in things mechanical and sportive, and such themes found musical expression in the "mouvements symphoniques." Pacific 231 celebrates the power and excitement of locomotion, while Rugby colorfully evokes the movement and aggression of that sport. Still, Honegger was wary of music that required visual or symbolic aids and liked to think of Rugby as an absolute, rather than programmatic, work.

Per the suggestion of its title, there is hardly a dull moment in Rugby. A rapid ascending figure in the violins heralds a flurry of activity. A fast triplet figure repeats numerous times until the trombone enters with a fragment of the "sport" motive. This theme, as it were, takes a while to develop more fully; like a ball being passed about, it restlessly moves from one instrumental grouping to another. A more lyrical line emerges from the violins, but is soon swept away in a flurry of activity.

A pointillistic section features the bassoons and basses. The lyrical melody makes another brief appearance, while the "sport" motive continues to blossom. A series of dissonant block chords provide the impression of a conclusion; however, a more consonant statement takes over, as though signalling a victory, and brings Rugby to a powerful and enthusiastic end.

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