This chamber concert offers an interesting overview of the works that several Spanish composers (except for María Eugenia Luc, born in the 1960s and closely associated with the Basque Country) have dedicated to this infrequent ensemble in recent years, and who are now at the peak of their creative maturity. It’s a great opportunity to hear live pieces that are only available on specialised record labels.

With Ferrer Ferrán (Valencia, 1966), author of extensive works for orchestra and band, we explore Egyptian mythology in Horus (2007), the celestial god and healer. This is followed by Paisajes mecánicas (Mechanical Landscapes), by Sánchez Verdú (Algeciras, 1968), written in 1994 and premiered in Tangier the following year.

The program fulfills its commitment to promoting contemporary music by presenting the premiere of Quartet No. 2 by Sancho Velázquez (Alcalá del Río, 1962), a violinist with the ROSS. A self-taught musician, he began composing in 1993.

From María Eugenia Luc (Rosario, 1958), who is interested in the world of fractals, we will hear a 2015 work written for the Irauli quartet, Luma galdu bat bezala (“Like a Lost Feather”), which is the title of a poem by Joseba Sarrionandi.

From the extensive catalogue of Jesús Torres (Zaragoza, 1965), a composer deeply invested in Spanish poetry, we offer his 2009 Oboe Quartet.

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Between the limpid classicism of Strauss, the bounding energy of a more Broadway-esque than ever Bernstein, the serenity of Saariaho, and the most cheerful of Shostakovich’s symphonies, this program offers us four faces of joy.

How can one resist the neoclassical charm of Strauss’s Oboe Concerto? The spirit of Mozart lives on in these melodic and humorous passages, whose sustained singing nevertheless remains a formidable test for the soloist.

Linked to the ballet Fancy Free, the three dances from On the Town embody all of Bernstein’s hedonism: in the last, the frenzied sailors converge on Times Square for an unforgettable night of fun.

More peaceful, almost mystical in their quest for the suspended moment and the ephemeral, are the Seven Butterflies by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, whose cello, which she uses in innovative ways, is her preferred instrument.

To conclude, this is the most elliptical of Shostakovich’s symphonies, and one of the most surprising in that it lacks—except in the Largo—the power and dark drama of the others. It is said that Stalin, expecting more grandeur, flew into a rage at such frivolity!