Chamber Ensemble's instrument mix

The Philadelphia Chamber Ensemble specializes in pieces that employ an unusual mix of instruments, but its musicians outdid themselves at their latest concert.

How often have you heard a quintet for clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello and piano? Or a sextet for clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, violin, cello and piano?

The most familiar piece on the program was the Villa-Lobos Jet Whistle, and that's scored for flute and cello. The Mozart trio that opened the afternoon appeared to be written for a fairly conventional ensemble, until you noticed that it calls for clarinet, viola and piano. (Most composers would have opted for a violin.)

The French have produced shelves of work for flute, harp and string trio, but the Chamber Ensemble is the only local group that plays them regularly, thanks to the presence of the Philadelphia Orchestra's co-principal harpist, Margaret Csonka Montanaro. For this concert, the Ensemble chose a particularly charming example of the genre, the 1936 Voyage to the Land of Love by Gabriel Pierne.

Cruise through Valentine land

The voyage begins with the unusual sound of a harp playing over a drone from the cello, and visits destinations like Confident Friendship and Lovely Verses as different instruments and combinations of instruments take the lead. The itinerary includes a short detour to the Sea of Hostility, but the overall mood is tender and idyllic: a cruise through a Valentine land that ended with a single, well-played note on David Cramer's flute.

Paul Hindemith's music can sometimes seem dry and academic, but his Three Pieces for clarinet, trumpet, violin, cello and piano can be filed with the many exceptions. Hindemith wrote it in 1925 for a radio program featuring new music inspired by ragtime and jazz, and it captures the liveliness of his models, along with the soulfulness that runs through the second half of the second movement. According to Steve Fisher's program notes, Three Pieces eventually provided the music for a ballet that featured dancing mummies.

Comic but ravishing dance

The afternoon's finale, La Revue de Cuisine by the Czech composer Buhuslav Martinu, continued the parade of whimsical images with music originally composed for a ballet about dancing kitchen utensils. Martinu added a bassoon to the ensemble Hindemith employed and produced the fun piece of the afternoon.

Martinu shared the interest in American popular music that French composers developed in the '20s, and his first movement Prologue disperses jazz-type solos for the clarinet and trumpet through the clang of a rollicking band. The second movement is a deliberately overdone Rudolf Valentino tango, but it's a beautiful piece of music despite its comic overtones. A slim, erect butter knife would have looked quite dashing as it marched across the dance floor with a ravishing serving spoon.

The third movement Charleston added another jazzy, street band outing, with the Philadelphia Orchestra's principal trumpet, David Bilger, leading the festivities; and the Finale ended the program with a style that proved pianist Kiyoko Takeuti and her accomplices could have dubbed themselves Kiyoko and the Guys and earned a good living in Parisian bars and American speakeasies in the 1920s.