WESTMINSTER COLLEGE CONCERT SERIES, “An Evening of Brahms,” Vieve Gore Concert Hall, March 4

Westminster College closed out its current season of concerts Monday with an all-Brahms program that paired two wonderfully contrasting works: the darkly intense Piano Quintet in F minor, op. 34, and the light and airy String Sextet in B flat, op. 18.

Before these two works were played, however, baritone Michael Chipman, accompanied at the piano by Barlow Bradford, sang a set of four of the German composer’s many Lieder: the passionate Ach, wende diesen Blick and Meine Liebe ist grün; and the lyrically flowing Die Mainacht and O kühler Wald.

This group of songs offers a range of expressions and feelings and Chipman gave a poetically nuanced and sensitive account of each. He has a rich, mellow voice that served the lush romantic sentiments of the texts well. His singing was fluid and resonant and wonderfully textured.

Bradford offered nicely balanced playing that supported and complemented Chipman’s expressive singing. It was a finely crafted collaboration of two like minded musicians.

The quintet followed the set of Lieder. Pianist Karlyn Bond was joined by Utah Symphony colleagues David Porter and Alex Martin, violin; Roberta Zalkind, viola; and Pegsoon Whang, cello. The five gave a very expansive, understated reading that allowed the music to speak for itself. With such dense, richly textured and sonorous music, extraneous commentary by the players is unnecessary. This group understood that and consequently their interpretation captured the romantic power of the work with their broadly crafted and fluid expressions.

The quintet is of symphonic proportions and the musicians played with large gestures and finely delineated and defined phrasings. Their playing was fluid yet forceful and they brought seamless cohesiveness to their account.

The concert closed with the sextet. The string players from the quintet (this time with Porter on viola) were joined by violinist Lun Jiang and cellist Matthew Johnson. They crafted beautifully lyrical phrases that underscored the billowy textures. Their playing was supple and colorful as well as seamlessly fluid. Once again, the musicians allowed the music to speak on its own terms without superfluous gestures. The sextet is a piece that needs no editorializing; they grasped that and gave the audience a performance that was articulate and eloquent.