Lightness and grace infuse 'Plain Song'

The lightness and grace that infuse the work made a happy contrast with the weighty sense of the occasion. In the first movement, ''St. Botolph's Fantasia," the chant snakes through a series of variations of increasing contrapuntal complexity. The second movement, ''Tango Blue," layers jazzy melodies in the clarinet, horn, and bassoon over sly, offbeat rhythms in the pizzicato strings. The finale, ''Quick Step," features more counterpoint and a sense of perpetual motion, culminating in a return of the chant amid a swift buildup of sound.

''Plain Song, Fantastic Dances" is an enjoyable and well-written work, and its clearly tonal harmony makes it easy to grasp even on first listen, as does the deftness with which Gandolfi, who teaches at New England Conservatory, melds influences ancient and new.

Relatively minor works by Beethoven were also on the program -- the Octet for winds and the Sextet for string quartet and two horns. The concert was rounded out by the ''Petite Symphonie" for nine winds by Charles Gounod, better known for the operas ''Faust" and ''Romeo and Juliet." In all three the key to success is not to make more out of them than is there, and that's just how the Chamber Players approached them. They are genial, pleasant works that make no pretense to being masterpieces. Somehow they seemed right for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

One suspects that a lot of effort went into making the music sound so effortless. There were numerous excellent solos, but the main attraction was the warmth and blend of the overall sound. Horn players James Sommerville and Daniel Katzen deserve special mention, however, for their heroic playing throughout, and especially in the Sextet.