Serenade of the Doll

Guit. I-IV, cb. Like several other items from Children's Corner by the same arranger, Serenade of the Doll is set for a guitar quintet that includes an octave bass. In this movement however, the tessitura of the original would seem to make the bass superfluous. Levesque's use of the bass, together with the need to set some passages in a lower octave, often results in the music losing the delicate brilliance of the original. The inclusion of a requinto would have allowed the correct pitch relationships to be preserved. Dynamics are given, but the numerous marks of articulation that one finds in the piano version are almost entirely absent here. This arrangement would however, provide any competent amateur ensemble with a considerable musical challenge. The layout and presentation, as with all D'Oz publication's that I have seen is first rate. (Peter Rueffer, Classical Guitar Magazine, March 2002)