Like many of the works from the early part of Malcolm Arnold's career, The Smoke (1948) was misunderstood by the somewhat elitist concert-going public of its time. When a cockney refers to "The Smoke," he generally means the city of London, though the expression actually refers to any large city. Arnold, who dedicated the work to Rudolf Schwarz and the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra, decided quite deliberately to show Londoners a side of their city they would rather ignore. This overture is raucous, brash, and bawdy, original in conception, content, and execution, and contains significant elements of jazz, a style then largely looked down upon in the eyes of "serious" musical convention. The Smoke is clearly a nocturnal work, with more than a hint of sinister undertones. The principal waltz theme has a touch of the classically grotesque about it, thanks to Arnold's quirky sense of the ironic.

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