Austrian composer Franz Schubert composed the Trout Quintet, in 1819 for piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass. That’s an unusual ensemble, but Schubert evidently wrote it for a group of musicians who had gathered to play another composer’s piece, and those just happened be their instruments. A true masterpiece emerged…
The piece’s fourth movement consists of a theme and variations, the tune of which Schubert had previously written as a song for voice and piano and as an adaptation of a poem called “The Trout.” The verses depict a coldblooded fisherman’s efforts at a stream as he finally hooks a merry fish…
Here is the Schubert Ensemble, as they lovingly perform this work…
