By Jonathan Blumhofer

This is a terrific compendium of new music of the best sort: the kind that’s brilliantly written, expressively direct, played with assurance, and engineered with clarity and warmth.

Contrary to popular belief, Béla Bartók didn’t write the first Concerto for Orchestra: the label had been in use for nearly twenty years before the Hungarian master penned his own in 1943. And the genre has had a fruitful afterlife across the following decades: Witold Lutoslawski, Rodion Shchedrin, Elliott Carter, Joan Tower, and Gabriella Lena Frank—among many others—have all penned their own. Now, along comes Kevin Puts.

The St. Louis native is no stranger to showpieces, having already written around a dozen solo concerti for various instrumental combinations. And, as is made clear from the first of this effort’s six movements, he has no trouble transferring his skillset to a larger collective and showcasing its many moving parts idiomatically and virtuosically.

In fact, there’s plenty to admire—love, even—about Puts’ Concerto for Orchestra. Its technical facility calls to mind Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and Bartók’s Concerto without ever referencing them directly. The composer’s command of musical character and contrast are all very smartly on display: this is music that can get serious without becoming cloying or overblown and knows how to have fun without getting too cute. The instrumentation is consistently vivid and well-balanced, oftentimes (as in the gorgeous “Sicilienne”) breathtakingly transparent.

In many regards, then, Puts has crafted exactly the sort of concert music that more than a few of us wish John Williams would write more of—smart, dramatic, tuneful, accessible. That he’s done so without aping the film music icon’s musical language and staying true to his own voice (as the Concerto’s connections to the following Silent Night Elegy bear out) is a testament to Puts’ artistry.

If the Concerto has any flaws, it’s that its four short sections are too short (the enchanting “Music Box with Arietta” passes by like a dream), the long one is a shade too long, and the finale’s coda feels abrupt. But the music’s such a joy to listen to, touching and witty as not enough contemporary music is—and the performance from the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) and music director Stéphane Denève so locked in—that these complaints don’t amount to much.

Besides, the Elegy, a concert suite from Puts’ Pulitzer Prize-winning 2012 opera (Silent Night) compensates with plenty of grit, violence, and good pacing. In it, the composer’s depiction of trench warfare during the battle music scenes are particularly explosive and wild. But punchy, Adams-like riffs and pummeling decibels only take the suite so far. Rather, it’s the layering of textures and shaping of the meditative middle part—as well as the work’s touching, devotional ending—that, in the hands of Denève and the SLSO, end up leaving the larger impression.

Filling out this excellent recording is Puts’ Virelai, a short curtain-raiser written for Denève’s first season as the SLSO’s chief in 2019. A rousing adaptation of music by Guillaume de Machaut, the brief number, with its sophisticated displays of rhythmic dissonance and snappy tunefulness, is scored with aplomb. The performance (as with all the other selections on this album, this is Virelai’s world premiere recording) bubbles over with irresistible energy.

All in all, then, this is a terrific compendium of new music of the best sort: the kind that’s brilliantly written, expressively direct, played with assurance, and engineered with clarity and warmth. Recommended without hesitation or reservation.

Jonathan Blumhofer is a composer and violist who has been active in the greater Boston area since 2004. His music has received numerous awards and been performed by various ensembles, including the American Composers Orchestra, Kiev Philharmonic, Camerata Chicago, Xanthos Ensemble, and Juventas New Music Group. Since receiving his doctorate from Boston University in 2010, Jon has taught at Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and online for the University of Phoenix, in addition to writing music criticism for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.