This suite for concert band is made up of five numbers from the musical Candide, which premiered on Broadway in 1956. The satiric novella Candide by Voltaire was the basis for a political and musical satire with a libretto by Lillian Hellman and music by Leonard Bernstein. Candide as a musical has since had many reincarnations, but the sections of this suite utilize musical numbers that have remained virtually unchanged from the original Broadway production.