Nimbus spans eras with ease

Starting their third season Sunday at Westwood United Methodist Church, Young Riddle and his Nimbus Ensemble continued to juxtapose music of J.S. Bach with that of the composer’s successors way downstream in the 20th century. That’s a durable foundation for a series, as the choice of high-grade material is nearly endless and the inclusion of a “mystery piece” in each concert is an endearing come-on for connoisseurs who like to play “name that tune.”

The main link this time was between Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 and a Hindemith “Cello Concerto” (better known as Kammermusik No. 3 and not to be confused with another, later cello concerto).

The Hindemith comes from right in the middle of his exuberantly muscular neo-Baroque period (the 1920s). It’s busy, occasionally sassy music that gave the skilled soloist, Jason Calloway, a vigorous workout. Nimbus’ playing in the Brandenburg -- featuring only 10 strings and harpsichord -- could have been neater, but the tempos ran at a good clip and there was some swing in the rhythms.

An instructive buildup to the mystery piece occurred as oboist Paul Sherman and bassoonist Carolyn Beck demonstrated what a particular passage of music sounded like on modern instruments and then on equivalent but mellower Baroque instruments. That gave away some of the mystery right there, as the piece was Albinoni’s benignly conventional Concerto a cinque for oboe, Opus 7, No. 3.

Breaking from the principal thread of the evening, Riddle and his colleagues closed with Leon Kirchner’s “Music for Twelve” (1985), which takes its main impulse not from Bach or Hindemith but from Schoenberg. It’s not an easy piece to grasp on first hearing; the textures seem to change capriciously. But the mysterious string tremolos at the start and alluring orchestrations keep you going.

In an unexpected insert to the program, Nimbus pianist Nadia Shpachenko played Kirchner’s Five Pieces for Piano Solo (1987) -- good preparation for the ever-shifting “Music for Twelve.”