Familiar as we are with Debussy's Petite Suite in its original form for piano duet and the orchestral version by Henri Busser, I doubt whether many of us have come across this transcription of the piece for wind quintet by Gordon Davies, and must confess that despite a skilful presentation by a young Danish ensemble, it has not convinced me musically. Especially with a close recording such as this, in which keywork and breathing are sometimes audible, there is a want of 'half-tones'. Indeed, all seems rather prosaic, in part because of the lack of piano/pianissimo and also the absence of that glow created by the piano's sustaining pedal which is intrinsic to the score—not least in the first number, ''En bateau''—and which the orchestral version nicely simulates. Otherwise, the playing is fluent and the ensemble crisp and well in tune.
I prefer the pieces that follow, which were written for the various instruments that play them and although Syrinx seems something of a 'filler' placed near the middle of what is otherwise an ensemble programme, it is delivered compellingly by Ingrid Holck. Pierne's brief Pastorale (taken a little briskly, perhaps), Bozza's Trois pieces, and the Jean Francaix Wind Quartet are all enjoyable: the last of these is in four movements and the most inventive and substantial, and perhaps the best played too, but all show a Gallic ability to write idiomatically for wind ensemble. But I suspect it will be principally for the three works by Danish composers that collectors will wish to investigate this issue. None is especially modern, for all three men were born at the turn of the century. The influence of Nielsen is evident in the narrative and conversational styles of writing shown here respectively by his pupil Jorgen Bentzon's Racconto No. 3, with its title meaning a story, and Finn Hoffding's Dialogues for oboe and clarinet. But the Bentzon strikes me as dry and contrived, and if any wit is intended it is of a distinctly pawky kind. Similarly, the five pieces that make up Hoffding's work do not really characterize their titles (e.g. ''General Conversation'', ''Elevated Conversation'', ''Cheerful Conversation'') very strikingly.
Of these Scandinavian offerings, it is perhaps only Riisager's vivid, well constructed and well named Divertimento that shows a real musical personality and which one would want to hear again: he says a good deal more than his compatriots, in less space and with elegance.'