This is a little suite in five short movements, beginning with a Gavotte; Prokofiev's Classical Symphony came to mind a little here, as it has that peculiar trait of a pleasant melody with harmonies that are entirely harmonious but utterly unexpected when relating to the key, so that one finds oneself landing on a chord that wasn't at all on the cards, yet one somehow ends up back in the home key at the end of it all. The March is a scherzando with a sliding, lolloping gait against a plodding bass line. Again there is lots of humour in here and it is plenty of fun to play. A Waltz follows with a pleasant lilt to it and then a Lullaby; based on a Russian melody that is a largo cantabile, with a beautiful melody atop some warm chords. The final Galop's main feature is a sloping run on five notes and a general tendency for humorous dissonance as in the opening Gavotte. The whole suite is plenty of fun, not too hard to play and immediately catchy and involving and certainly a good purchase for anyone whole likes a fun piece to play that doesn't take too much preparation and yet is all over in about 10 minutes. Nice.
Chris Dumigan (Classical Guitar Magazine)
