Franz Schubert, "Trout" Quintet

In mid-1818, life seemed to have started smiling for little Franz. That summer he was hired by Count Johann Esterházy, cousin of Haydn's protector, as music tutor to his daughters. The 21-year-old musician moved to the family's country residence in the Hungarian village of Szeliz, an idyllic place where he spent four months teaching singing and piano to thirteen-year-old Caroline and fifteen-year-old Maria. The salary was not bad, and the workload was light. Franz took the opportunity to compose.

The good times
The following year was better, it's perhaps the best year of the composer's life. He gave up teaching at the school run by his father and went to live with friends in Vienna. He had time to compose, read, talk, and enjoy meetings well stocked with beer and wine with his friends. Among them was the famous baritone Josef Vogl, in Schubert's opinion the first singer who had understood him and knew how to interpret him. In the summer of 1819 they both set off for a trip to the town of Steyr, 125 km from Vienna.

The cellist Paumgartner
The small town was bustling with abundant musical activity. Franz and Vogl's performances there – especially of the lied "The Trout" composed in 1817 – attracted the attention of the wealthy businessman and amateur cellist Sylvester Paumgartner, who asked Schubert to compose a major work based on the lied. The result was the Quintet in A major, one of Schubert's most popular works. Completed in Vienna in the autumn of that year, it is dedicated, as expected, to the cellist-entrepreneur.

Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, "The Trout"
Written for the unusual ensemble of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass, it comprises five movements: allegro vivace, andante, scherzo, andantino allegreto and allegro giusto. The work uses in its fourth movement the theme of the lied of the same name.

Listening Guide

00:27  Allegro vivace  –  Written in "allegro de sonata" form, after an introduction the main theme is brilliantly presented at 1:13. Development section: 4: 42. Recapitulation: 6:40, initiated by the violin.

10:09 Andante  – Beautifully lyrical, in a minor key. Contains three motives, one of them is given to the solo piano at 12:20; the strings in the role of accompaniment.

18:01  Scherzo: Presto – With an aggressive beginning, and whose momentum does not stop for a moment, it includes several Austrian folk melodies.

22:57  Andantino - Allegretto – The movement that gives its name to the piece: Theme and variations on the lied "The Trout". The variations are six: Var I: 24:00. Var II: 24:56. Var III: 25:57. Var IV: 26:52. Var V: 27:46. Var VI: 29:11.

30:34  Allegro giusto – Simple and light. Like the third movement, it seems to contain smaller units in the style of a set of dances.

The rendition is by Natalia Lomeyko (violin), Yuri Zhislin (viola), Juan Cadenas (cello), Andrei Feigin (double bass) and Damián Hernández (piano).