Ravel’s Pavane pour une enfante défunt isn’t very long, clocking in at about six-and-a-half minutes. But I’m looking for pieces that are even shorter than that.
Stravinsky wrote some orchestral miniatures: his Circus Polka is about four minutes, and his Fireworks is even shorter, at about three-and-a-half minutes. And, of course, Webern wrote numerous miniatures for orchestra – although he usually conjoined them into multi-movement suites. As well, there’s Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man – although, strictly speaking, it’s not quite an orchestral work.