If you don't recognise the piece from the title you'll know it within two beats when you hear it and what a little gem this quartet is! Carefully arranged in A major, this piece feels so good one could think it was composed by Sor for four guitarists who would just be considering intermediate music. The rhythms ensure that the ensemble stays locked tightly together, and the only real technical problem might be the pizzicato - but then, as an accompaniment device, it could be replaced by a normally plucked line without spoiling the piece. This is good teaching material as well as an excellent concert piece - there are opportunities to take the tenor and alto parts up the neck (the lack of fingering is a positive advantage in that respect) and the dynamic markings are plentiful. I'd find it hard to explain why line four's part score has a same as previous bar' : / / : sign and the full score doesn't, but I'd regard that more as a teaching opportunity than a typo. Much the same applies to the first bar, which contains rests rather than just an upbeat. But these are not criticisms, just observations in what is a really lovely arrangement. This is going to be a very popular piece in a lot of teachers' briefcases.
(Derek Hasted, Classical Guitar Magazine, August 2003)
