Oberlin conductor Tim Weiss is known for his dedication to contemporary music and his association with bold projects like Lost Highway. Therefore, it was surprising to see him conduct the Wind Ensemble this past Tuesday in a program with music that was not only tonal, but also written before the 20th century.

Weiss’ conservative half of the program, containing a wind serenade by Mozart and a suite by a young Richard Strauss, complemented the newer work, KRASCH! by Anders Nilsson, conducted by Professor of Percussion Michael Rosen.

Nilsson’s three movement work for saxophone quartet, percussion ensemble and recorded tape was composed in 1993. Utilizing dozens of instruments including electronics, Nilsson creates a wide variety of textures. The saxophones were at times allowed to meld into the texture as if they were also percussion instruments and at other times they were placed in staunch opposition with dissonant legato lines.

Another interesting sonic effect was Nilsson’s ability to blur the line between what was live music and what was the electronic tape. The two sets of timpani were placed on opposite sides of the stage creating interesting passages of antiphony.

The ensemble of ten performers kept the texture tight without falling into the monotony of unending rhythm that such ensembles are sometimes prone to.

Richard Strauss’ Suite in B-flat, Op. 4 was performed gracefully by a group of thirteen instrumentalists. The balance between the four horns and nine woodwinds was excellent and the performance’s only blemishes were a lack of intimacy and clarity attributable to the acoustics of Warner Concert Hall.

Many of the best moments in the work were the plentiful solos, particularly the rich, dark sound of David Barford, principal oboe and Conservatory first-year.

Mozart’s Serenade in B-flat major “Gran Partita,” K. 361 concluded the concert. This seven movement work ran the gamut of the composer’s style from the sweet and melancholy to a quasi-Turkish march and everything else in between. Mozart lives up to his reputation of apt orchestration throughout the work.

The large amount of repetition, characteristic of this style intended as background music for social gatherings, did at times wear on the listener, but the sheer pleasantness of the writing could almost make one forget about it.

In an ensemble of winds, it is often difficult to achieve a convincing blend. That is no slant against wind players, but rather a fact that stems from the use of so many different reeds and flutes, with horns thrown in as the sole representative of the brass. Because of the many different sounds, chamber wind ensembles often have the feel of a group of soloists competing against one another. The Oberlin Wind Ensemble transcended these limitations to create a unified and convincing sound. This fact is certainly due to the skill of the players as well as the expertise of Weiss.

While this may have been an unusual program for the ensemble, it displayed its prowess just as well as any other program and spoke of the versatility of the group and its director.