Whether or not music stirs inside, each of us bears a living metronome at our core. It may tick at 40 or 100 beats per minute, in three-quarter time or in six-eight, erratically or like a Swiss clock.

FORT WORTH — Concerts at the annual Mimir Chamber Music Festival normally present ad hoc ensembles of musicians drawn from major symphony orchestras, chamber groups and conservatory faculties. But ...