The early overture Tam O'Shanter gave Arnold one of several opportunites to write "drunken" music, a recurring image in his output that usually manages to combine a humorous impression of unsteadiness with underlying emotional discomfort. In this case, Tam is a Scot from a Robert Burns poem who meets some night spirits and has a wild ride to get away from them. In addition to the inebriated trombone and the music for the spirits, there is a remarkable raucous passage in which the whole orchestra turns intself into a massive choir of bagpipes. This is one of the finest of comic overtures.

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