Chamber Music Hawaii's program last Monday evening covered a lot of territory, from vocal motets to opera, folk songs to piano solos, sacred to secular, and Renaissance to today — all through one ensemble.

That ensemble was the Honolulu Brass Quintet, with Mark Schubert and Ken Hafner on trumpet, Wade Butin on French horn, Eric Mathis on trombone, and John Elliott on tuba, all musicians from the Honolulu Symphony.

The Honolulu Brass Quintet opened the evening with the only piece that both stood outside the concert's theme of music of Spain; it was originally composed for brass quintet, Eric Ewazen's "Volcanic Peaks."

"Volcanic Peaks" is the continuation of Ewazen's "Islands of Dreams and Drama" cycle, which is being performed one movement at a time throughout this year's season. The cycle was commissioned last year by Chamber Music Hawaii in celebration of its 25th anniversary and is structured in five movements: two outer movements for CMH's Tresemble, the large combined group, and three inner movements, one for the Galliard String Quartet, one for the Spring Wind Quintet, and this concert's movement for the Ho-nolulu Brass Quintet.

"Volcanic Peaks" turned out to be a genial, upbeat piece without a trace of the upheaval, turmoil, or drama of Hawai'i's active volcanoes. Ewazen's peaks were dormant, basking peacefully in the warm sun.

All of the movements presented so far have been very appealing; one can only hope CMH will perform the cycle as a whole before season's end.

Most of the program consisted of arrangements, and even arrangements of arrangements, for brass quintet. Works originated with composers from 16th-century Spain (Victoria), from 19th-century France writing about Spain (Bizet), and from 19th- and 20th-century Spain writing distinctively Spanish music (de Falla and Albéniz).

The music was mostly light, based on song, dance or folksong, with that distinctive Spanish flavor — an expressive flexibility of beat, ornamental flourishes, compelling rhythms, arching melodies — that had listeners nodding, swaying and tapping their toes to music that seemed somehow familiar even if they had never heard the piece before.

Arranging soloistic music for an ensemble sometimes translated into a stiffer, less spontaneous spirit, as in Falla's "Catalan Sketches," and those famous Spanish flourishes tended to muddy, as in Bizet's "Varment Fantasia" or Albéniz's "Serenata" and "Zortzico." But those were outnumbered by the many delightful passages: Schubert's and Hafner's sweetly interwoven melodies in Bizet's "Habañera"; Mathis' vibrant solo in "Carmen Fantasia; Butin's solo in the "B" section of Albéniz's "Sevilla"; Elliott's ostinato in "Habañera," his solid foundation in "Carmen Fantasia," and his solo near the end of Albéniz's "Española"; as well as the quintet's smoky middle section of Albéniz's "Española."

The audience clearly enjoyed the music and time fairly flew.

The concert repeats tonight at the Doris Duke Theatre. Next, audiences will hear CMH's Honolulu Brass not as a quintet, but as a full brass choir: In December, it presents a holiday celebration at the Cathedral Church of St. Andrew's with conductor Thomas Osborne and organist John Renke.