When Sir Nigel Playfair staged Sheridan's The Duenna at the Lyric, Hammersmith, he commissioned his musical director, Alfred Reynolds , to rewrite the original music by Thomas Lin !ey, which had been described as ' Handel and water '. Reynolds became enthusiastic writes Sir Nigel, ' and by the time he had finished there was really a good deal more Reynolds than Linley in the composition
Debussy's second wife bore him a little daughter, nicknamed ' Chouchou ', and the happily domesticated composer dedicated ' Children's Corner ' ' to my dear little Chouchou, with her father's affectionate apologies for what follows '. Naturally, the pieces are intended to be played to a child, not by a child.