French, Russian and British composers comprise the meat of “Entente Cordiale,” the DaPonte String Quartet’s second series of summer concerts, running from July 22 to August 6 in Harpswell, Tenant’s Harbor, Boothbay, Scarborough and South Bristol.

“Entente Cordiale” refers to the European alliance, but is also a play on words meaning “happy listening.” The concert starts with 17th century British composer Henry Purcell’s intricately constructed Fantasias for Strings, with their remarkable harmonic idiom, and leaps forward 300 years to Dmitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 4 in D Major Op. 83. This remarkable work was kept in a drawer by the Russian composer until Stalin was safely dead, because of its obvious Jewish influences.

The final piece, Clause Debussy’s G Minor Op. 10, was the French composer’s one and only string quartet — but it is a doozy. Sensual and impressionistic, Opus 10 is considered a watershed in the history of chamber music because it represents a complete break from traditional rules of harmony and the rigid structures of the form.

This series will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on July 22 at Centennial Hall, Harpswell Neck Road, Harpswell; on July 23 at Jackson Memorial Library, Main Street, Tenant’s Harbor; on July 24 at the Visitor Center at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay; on August 6 at Union Church, Middle Road, South Bristol; and at 3 p.m. at Piper Shores Retirement Community, 15 Piper Road, Scarborough.

Tickets are $25 and are available at Maine Coast Books, Damariscotta; Gulf of Maine Books, Brunswick; the Jackson Memorial Library, Tenant’s Harbor; and at www.daponte.org or 207-529-4555.