June 10

The Musical Almanac
��by Kurt Nemes

June 10. Franz Schubert: Piano Quintet in A major D667, "Trout"
You often find the �Trout� Quintet among those lists of 100 greatest recordings or basic libraries. Schubert wrote this piece in 1819 while vacationing in upper Austria with a group of musicians. One of them, a wannabe cellist named Sylvester Paumgartner, at whose place they were staying, commissioned Schubert to write this quintet based on the melody of one of Schubert�s own songs, �The Trout.�

This song tells of how Schubert was once walking along by a beautiful stream when he spied a trout at play in the water. Schubert contemplates the beauty of the scene when an angler appears and starts fishing for the trout. Eventually the fisherman hooks the trout and Schubert is left lamenting his sad fate. The first movement of this works starts with a rolling, bubbly phrase, repeated by the piano, which perfectly captures the impression of the music.

I first heard this piece while living in the French House in my junior year of college, in 1975. I thought it was quite pretty. When I mentioned it to my girlfriend, Linda, who was majoring in string bass, she said something like �Ugh! That piece is so overplayed.� After that, for a long time, I did not bother to listen to it. Then, years later, after I was married, my wife, Judy, heard it playing on the local classical station. Suddenly she started singing these words along to the famous melody:

As by a crystal brooklet,
I wandered on my way
Among the gentle ripples
I spied a trout at play
As here and there he darted
As swift as swift could be
Was never fish so lively
Nor frolicsome as he.
Was never fish so lively
Nor frolicsome as he.

But skillful was the angler
With cruel delight
He sullied all the crystal water
And hid the fish from sight
Alas, by that deception
The fish, the enticing bait, sought out
And I was left lamenting
The fate of that poor trout.
And I was left lamenting
The fate of that poor trout.

It�s a very Romantic conceit to write an impassioned song about the death of a fish. Still, if you respect life, where do you draw the line between which beings it�s not OK to kill and which it is? The Jainists in India have carried this so far as to wear masks over their mouths lest they breath in microbes that their natural antibodies would destroy. That might sound absurd, but there is something dear about Schubert writing this piece and it�s definitely sweet to have it serenaded to you by a beautiful woman.

Schubert Bio Midi Files (Scroll Down) Milstein Recording

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