Ralph Vaughan Williams dedicated his Symphony No. 4 in F minor to Arnold Bax.

Unlike Vaughan Williams's first three symphonies, it was not given a title, the composer stating that it was to be understood as pure music, without any incidental or external inspiration.

In contrast to many of Vaughan Williams's previous compositions, the symphony displays a severity of tone. The composer himself once observed of it, "I'm not at all sure that I like it myself now. All I know is that it's what I wanted to do at the time." According to the letter written by Arthur Benjamin to Vaughan Williams on 21 April 1935 (BL MS Mus 1714/1/9, ff. 113–14), the British composer Sir William Walton admired the work greatly. Benjamin wrote: "I met Willy Walton on the way to the Hall and he said — having been to the rehearsals — that we were going to hear the greatest symphony since Beethoven. Arnold, too, agreed." An alternative source states that Walton heard Constant Lambert saying it to Benjamin.

Only two symphonies of Vaughan Williams end loudly: No. 4 and No. 8.

The work is in four movements with the third and fourth linked:

    I. Allegro
    II. Andante moderato
    III. Scherzo: Allegro molto
    IV. Finale con epilogo fugato: Allegro molto