This charming, substantial suite, clocking in at a bit under twenty-five minutes, is a revision of Rózsa's Serenade for Small Orchestra, Op. 10, which dates from 1932. The new scoring calls for only a slightly larger ensemble-single woodwinds and brass, plus a bit of percussion and full string sections. It remains a gentle evocation of Hungarian folk song in the manner of Kodály.

The opening Marcia movement introduces a little woodwind two-step over a snare drum beat. The lighthearted tune is taken up by various sections of the orchestra, whereupon highly contrapuntal writing, with almost no doubling, makes the orchestra sound fuller than it really is.

Next comes a Serenata for strings only. An expressive folk-like melody is introduced by the solo cello, then taken up in polyphonic conversation with the rest of the strings. The texture is rich, but not heavy, with each section unfolding its material gracefully. This is counterpoint in the Renaissance rather than Baroque manner: a weaving of singing voices, rather than a lacing-up of nattering instrumental lines.

The Scherzo, which brings the whole orchestra together again, is derived from two movements from the Bagatelles for piano: the sweetly agrarian "Novelette" has been turned into a trio section between repeats of the boisterous urban "Capriccietto." In their new form, both pieces have been greatly developed through contrapuntal figuration.

The lengthy, brooding Notturno dispenses with violins, which allows a dark underlay for the more colorful, florid, yet measured woodwind solos. As in the Serenata, the thematic material feels strongly Hungarian, and is suffused with a longing for the composer's homeland-lost to him with the advent of World War II and the subsequent Communist takeover. The suite concludes with a bumptious Danza for full orchestra, quick and burbling in shifting meters.



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