His Point Concisely : It Was Succinctness That Drew Jeff von der Schmidt to Ernest Krenek’s Work

Viennese native Ernest Krenek was acclaimed in Europe, but American musicians shunned his compositions. Perhaps, as Krenek believed, they found the works too difficult to pigeonhole. In any case, the Southwest Chamber Music Society has been one of the few ensembles in this country to carry his torch, both before and since his death at age 91 in 1991.

On Friday, the society will play two Krenek works, and works by Alban Berg and Johannes Brahms, at Chapman University in Orange. In July, the group will record seven pieces by Krenek, five of which the society gave their U.S. premieres.

The attraction?

Jeff von der Schmidt, the society’s artistic director, advised looking no further than the music to be played this weekend: “Zwei Zeitlieder,” Op. 215, for mezzo-soprano and string quartet, and “String Trio in 12 Stations,” Op. 237.

“There isn’t a superficial gesture anywhere in these works,” said Schmidt, 39. “They are terse and condensed. They benefit from the vantage of a lifetime spent in music . . . There’s also an intense juxtaposition of tempo and timber, and it is through this sound of the music that the novice can be drawn in and enriched.”

Kathleen Rowland will be the soloist for “Zwei Zeitlieder”; pianist Vicki Ray will play Berg’s Piano Sonata and Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34. The program will be repeated Saturday at the Pasadena Presbyterian Church and Sunday at the Santa Monica Museum of Art.

As the society ends its eighth season, “numerous opportunities are stabilizing the ensemble,” Schmidt said. Having nearly doubled its operating budget in 1994, “we’re playing a 30- to 35-week season. We’ve become the most active chamber music group in the western United States after the Kronos Quartet.”

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Not everything is stable, however. Last week it was announced that cellist Leighton Fong of San Francisco has replaced Roger Lebow, who is turning his attentions to the film industry, and soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, who has appeared regularly with the group over the last three seasons, has been added to the roster. (Bryn-Julson will record “Zwei Zeitlieder” with the society.)

That brings the permanent roster--which also includes a string quartet, wind quintet, keyboards, double bass and percussion--to 15.

According to Schmidt, who plays French horn, the society began as a result of weeks of “brainstorming” with composer Oliver Knussen at the Tanglewood Music Festival.

“We talked about how one goes about putting together an ensemble,” Schmidt recalled. “Knussen offered his ideas. . . . and they’re ideas we’re still implementing.”

Such as?

“To take responsibility for programming, not try to satisfy everybody, and not to let composers make artistic decisions. Look at everything we do: There’s a very catholic sense of taste. [I can’t worry that] I’ll get a ticket from the 12-tone police if I play Halsey Stevens, I’ll get a ticket from the neoclassic police if I play Pierre Boulez.

“What’s important is to present all types of music in a sympathetic manner--not do Stevens and Boulez on the same concert. I don’t go to concerts that are Brahms and Stravinsky. The high cholesterol of one and the low salt of the other is too much to bear.”

Brahms and Krenek are another matter entirely, according to Schmidt, one that goes beyond the Viennese connection.

“The guiding light here,” Schmidt said, “is a rather sanguine fury.”

* The Southwest Chamber Music Society plays works by Berg, Krenek and Brahms on Friday in Bertea Hall at Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. 8 p.m. $20; students and senior citizens, $10. (800) 726-7147.