Chamber Music Hawaii assembled its largest Tresemble group yet on Monday at the Doris Duke Theatre, to present the season's finale, an entire program of 20th-century French works.

The important adjective here is French, rather than 20th-century: These pieces were witty, entertaining, charming, full of the joie de vivre that revives energy. One member of the audience called them "buoyant," and so they were, of mind and soul.

In spite of the fact that the music was all French, all chamber and all from a period of less than 40 years, the overall impression was one of variety.

Only one piece was a typical chamber work: Poulenc's Sonata for a brass trio of trumpet, trombone and horn. The rest were large chamber works: two nonets (works for nine instruments) by Poulenc and Martinu; a "dectet" (I had to invent that word, as there is none for an ensemble of 10) by Honegger; and at the end of the evening, Milhaud's "La Création du Monde" (The Creation of the World) ballet for chamber orchestra, played by 18 musicians, plus conductor.

Some pieces were serious, others frivolous, but all great fun.

French composers of the early 20th century were less committed to thematic development than their German confreres. They freely embraced non-Western idioms (jazz echoed through several works) and explored folk music techniques such as ostinatos, dance rhythms, motivic cells and varied repetition structures.

They also, being French, reveled in the sensual aspects of music — timbres, textures, sonorities — while keeping humor and a biting wit close at hand.

CMH's Tresemble clearly enjoyed performing the music, and great moments abounded.

Highlights included Honegger's entrancing "Pastorale d'ete" (Pastorale of summer) the sparkling final movement of Poulenc's "Trois mouvements perpetuels" (Three perpetual movements), and the dreamy middle movement of Martinu's "Nonet."

The brass trio garnered the biggest laugh with its clowning in Poulenc's Sonata, but most of the humor was of the quiet variety, an innerly effervescent wit.

Milhaud's 1923 "Création" ballet (now a concert work, rarely danced) provided the evening's climax and close. It was imbued with touches of wild jazz licks, songful solos and infectious rhythms. Some passages were so reminiscent of Gershwin that one had to wonder how well the two knew each other's works.

Todd Yukumoto delivered wonderful saxophone solos. Riely Francis and Steve Dinion did an excellent job with the crucial tympani and percussion part, flutists Susan McGinn and Karla Lundren had marvelous flutter-tonguing alternating with lyric solos, pianist Thomas Yee swung, trombonist Eric Mathis. ...

The list is long.