Arabesque by Samuel R. Hazo is written in A flat major and switches to B flat major. It has the instrumentation of a full concert band. Percussion instruments are very prominent in this piece imitating the sounds of Arabic line dance music. The tempo constantly switches from medium to slow. The meter starts out in simple quadruple time, then switches to a compound duple, and then back to a simple quadruple. The piece consists of harmonic minor chords and has a very large range for some instruments all three octaves are used. The rhythm is complex and is made up of sixteenth notes, eighth notes and thirty-second notes.
The piece has three different ideas presented with one theme utilized throughout. The first idea presented is like an improvisation. There is a flute solo with a free tempo and percussion accompaniment. The second part is more concentrated on creating this Arabic line dance feel. The percussion plays a large role in this section. The last part is a chorale. It repeats previous themes and brings the song to a closing. Lastly, Arabesque contains no lyrics.
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