At times it payed its respects, it seemed, to Berg and Janacek (in the rhythmically vital Vivace), but a personal voice also was heard.

Jennifer Higdon's "Zaka" (2003), which opened the program, grabs the ear with a pounded, rhythmically vital bass figure on the piano.

Spiky, rhythmically vital and full of ear-catching figuration and interplay, the work reflected the quirkiness of its title.

The strings, an equal partner in this conversation, contribute trenchant, emphatic and rhythmically vital responses between bursts of clarinet and oboe virtuosity.

So did "Workers Union," a loud, rhythmically vital piece by the Dutch composer Louis Andriessen.

The program ended with Mr. Wuorinen's "River of Light" (1997), a chamber version of a rhythmically vital and varied ballet score.

His rhythmically vital and often spiky evocation of summer moves into an autumn outlined in sparkling percussion, piano and flute lines.

But Bernstein undoubtedly considered the work's life beyond the 1965 premiere, and since then the bright, rhythmically vital "Chichester Psalms" have found a place in the repertory.

The first is as freewheeling and rhythmically vital as "The Blue Hula."

Truth be told, it was a lot of Mennin for one sitting, but this is undeniably clean, solid music - sometimes elegant, always well constructed and rhythmically vital.