BEASER: “MOUNTAIN SONGS,” and works by MacDowell,...

BEASER: “MOUNTAIN SONGS,” and works by MacDowell, Richards, Foster, Corea, Schuman and Ives. Eliot Fisk, guitar; Paula Robison, flute. Musicmasters MMD 20115L (digital). Brisk, bravura performances make these tuneful miniatures easy listening of the most enjoyable sort. “Mountain Songs” is an eclectic, eight-movement suite based mostly on Appalachian folk songs set in styles ranging from bustling hoedown to impressionistic bits of almost Oriental wistfulness. The flip side contains Beaser’s “Il est ne, le divin enfant” and Fisk’s own skillful arrangements of 11 American songs, from “To a Wild Rose” and “Beautiful Dreamer” to Chick Corea’s “Children’s Song” No. 2 and William Schuman’s “Orpheus and His Lute.”