As they sailed through the changing moods of Mozart’s Quartet in E-flat Major, K. 428, the St. Petersburg String Quartet filled Finney Chapel with an atmosphere of pastoral melancholy laced with light-hearted wittiness on Wednesday night.

Limited by the length allowed for quartet composition, Mozart’s moody piece is a study in musical moderation — the composer had no lines to spare for mere effects. The St. Petersburg Quartet succeeded in giving a performance that served the composition just right. They played in a continuously elegant and unified manner that sometimes suggested remarkable insight. One of the Quartet’s strengths, clearly evident on Wednesday night, is that each player’s musical character is not lost within the integrated sound.

Next on the program was Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 49. Composed in 1938, this work has a lighter air — especially in the cello part — than the composer’s later, more war-influenced pieces. In the first movement moderato, the Quartet seemed to be working very close to the composer’s intentions.

Starting off the second half of the concert was Schubert’s Quartet No. 7 in D. First violinist Alla Aranovskaya, who displayed a romantic touch in her performance last year on Mendelssohn’s Octet, displayed her broad technical abilities with the Schubert piece. The Andante con moto is characterized by rich harmonies and textures and has slight concerto-like figurations in the first violin. Although making a few intonation flaws, Ms. Aranovskaya generally played well and never overshadowed the other instruments. The quartet performed the Minuetto robustly and concluded the piece with the high-spirited Presto.

The night of music concluded with the first two movements of Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 12 in D-flat major, Op. 133. Written in 1968, this quartet is more typical of the composer’s famous style than is the 1938 piece. While most of the concert consisted of rather distress-filled music, the final piece gave the audience some relief. The players skillfully brought out the anguished torment of the moderato, and peaked in their excellent rendition of the churning Allegretto. Overall it was a satisfying concert of fine quartet playing. The St. Petersburg Quartet’s regular visits to Finney are a delightful contribution to the musical life at our college.