Symphony jumps feet first into 20th century> Director Zimmerman serves up variety of classical treats, from Bartok to Barber, Copland to Stravinsky

You may not think symphonic music is steamy, but the Bangor Symphony Orchestra was downright sultry during Sunday’s performance of Aaron Copland’s “Music for the Theatre” at the Maine Center for the Arts. You could see the orchestra members swaying to a jazz beat with affectionate exuberance and zesty expression.

Music director Christopher Zimmerman kept them sharp and sexy and squawky in a way that did swaggering justice to the spirit of 1925, when Copland returned to New York City from his studies in Paris and wrote this piece. The BSO caught all those nuances, and imaginatively brought out that American immediacy Copland so nattily captures in his music. The oboe, trumpet, piano and clarinet were finely detailed, and you could just tell that the experience was nearly as fun for the musicians as for the audience.

The Copland was one of four pieces on a program of 20th century music, which, cajoled Zimmerman at the onset, was nothing to be frightened of. Indeed, the afternoon concert was pert and filled with such variety that instead of saying it was music you could sink your teeth into, you might say it had a lot of flavors that were terribly interesting to sample. Traditionalists may have been peckish when they left the concert, but there’s no denying that the lineup was a spunky a la carte menu from some of the great classical chefs of the last century.

Most impressive was Bela Bartok’s Divertimento for Strings, a bright yet troubling and occasionally shrill piece. The musicians prepared this stormy composition with meticulous attention to vivid metric patterns and the lively Hungarian folk melodies that inform Bartok’s music. This was as close as any of the pieces on the program got to being truly powerful.

The second half of the concert included Samuel Barber’s somberly sentimental Adagio for Strings, which the BSO presented with rugged lyricism, and Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite, which Zimmerman conducted with impish energy. The pacing for Pulcinella was less extreme than it might have been, which brought out the warmth and balletic inflections of this neo-Baroque work.

Twentieth century music always seems to be trailed by complaints about tonality, rhythm and — alas — beauty, or lack thereof. But Zimmerman needn’t have worried: There was nothing frightening about this concert. Clearly, it was a difficult program to perform, and the BSO held its ground admirably. While it’s safe to say this type of music isn’t everybody’s cup of tea and that there were moments during Sunday’s performance that wouldn’t be called riveting, this was a fine program of perfectly listenable and sometimes quite atmospheric music.