Notes for: July 24, 2007
Schubert spent the summer of 1819 walking in the Alps with Johann Michael Vogl, the baritone for whom he wrote many of his songs. Their excursion took them to Vogl’s home town, Steyr, a resort and iron-mining center in an area that Schubert described as “inconceivably lovely.”
There Schubert met Sylvester Paumgartner, the assistant mine manager, who was also an amateur musician and the only music patron in town. Paumgartner had converted a salon on the second floor of his house into a music room, decorating it with music symbols and portraits of composers and housing in it a collection of instruments and sheet music. The room was a frequent setting for informal concerts, with Paumgartner playing a wind instrument or cello and filling in with whatever other instrumentalists were available.
Paumgartner was particularly fond of Schubert’s song Die Forelle (“The Trout”), published two years earlier, and he asked Schubert to compose some variations on its tune. Schubert obliged not with just the variations but with a five-movement work, complementing the variations with four other movements.
The “Trout Quintet,” as the work became known, is also unusual in its instrumentation – piano, violin, viola, cello, and string bass. (Typically, piano quintets use two violins and no string bass). Paumgartner had assembled that combination of instruments to play a work by Hummel, and he asked Schubert to compose the variations for the same group.
This request had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it made possible a rich antiphony between piano and strings. On the other, the young composer did not know how to use a string bass effectively in a chamber-music setting, and the bass part is – let’s face it – a bit dull. Moreover, to prevent a “bottom heavy” effect, Schubert avoided the bass range of the piano, and much of the pianist’s left hand is in the treble clef, often in parallel octaves with the right hand.
This awkward instrumentation notwithstanding, the quintet is surely one of Schubert’s most lovable and infectious works. With its informality and lightheartedness – there are no minor-key movements – it is clearly holiday music for talented vacationers. Equally important, it was Schubert’s first mature chamber work, displaying his unmatched gift for shifting into different keys for contrast and variety.
Schubert’s harmonic playfulness is heard in the first movement’s opening measures. After a piano flourish, the strings play the first theme in dreamy fashion with the key hard to pin down. After ten measures, the piano picks up the theme in F major rather than the tonic A. Only in the 25th measure does the basic A major emerge, and only then is the theme presented with some degree of certainty. The triplets heard in the opening piano flourish play an important role throughout the movement, adding to the informal mood and providing a framework for the shifting tonality.
The second movement has an unusual structure. There are three related sections – one lyrical in F major, one melancholy in F sharp minor, and one restrained in D major. These sections are then repeated with little change a minor third higher – in A flat major, A minor and F Major – making possible a subtly different harmonic coloring.
After the high-speed scherzo, we come to the heart of the matter – the variations on “The Trout.” The strings play the tune but without the rippling piano effects that Schubert used in the song to suggest moving water. This is followed by five variations. Schubert then ends the movement by repeating the theme, this time with the piano rippling of the original.
The final movement, like the first movement, uses triplets to add to the merriment, and, like the second, is of unusual structure. It consists of two sections, the second a carbon copy of the first but in a different pitch. This enables Schubert to indulge his taste for shifting keys and still end in the home key of A major.
Notes for: August 2, 2016
Schubert spent the summer of 1819 walking in the Alps with Johann Michael Vogl, the baritone for whom he wrote many songs. Their excursion took them to Vogl’s home town, Steyr, a resort and iron-mining center that Schubert found “inconceivably lovely.” There, Schubert met Sylvester Paumgartner, the assistant mine manager, who was also a talented amateur musician and the town’s leading music patron. Paumgartner had converted a salon in his house into a music room. The room was frequently used for informal concerts, with Paumgartner playing a wind instrument or cello, filling in with whatever other instrumentalists were available.
Paumgartner was particularly fond of Schubert’s song Die Forelle (“The Trout”), published two years earlier, and he asked Schubert to compose some variations on this tune. Schubert created not only variations but a five-movement work as well, complementing the variations with four other movements. In fact, Schubert so much liked the idea of basing instrumental music on a song, he repeated that formula in several other works.
The “Trout Quintet,” as the work became known, is also unusual in its instrumentation – piano, violin, viola, cello, and string bass. (Typically, piano quintets use two violins and no string bass). Paumgartner had assembled that combination of instruments to play a work by Hummel, and he asked Schubert to compose the variations for the same group.
This request had both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it created a rich antiphony between piano and strings. On the other, because the young composer was inexperienced using a string bass effectively in chamber music, the bass part is a bit dull. Moreover, to prevent a “bottom heavy” effect, Schubert avoided the bass range of the piano, and the pianist’s left hand is often in the treble clef in parallel octaves with the right hand.
Despite this awkward instrumentation, the quintet is one of Schubert’s most beloved works. It is informal and lighthearted, with no minor-key movements. Equally important, it was Schubert’s first mature chamber work, displaying his unmatched gift for shifting into different keys for contrast and variety.
Schubert’s harmonic playfulness is heard in the opening measures of the first movement, Allegro vivace. After a piano flourish, the strings play the first theme in dreamy fashion. After ten measures, the piano continues the theme in F major, eventually shifting to A major. The triplets from the opening piano flourish play an important role throughout the movement.
The second movement, Andante, has an unusual structure. There are three related sections – one lyrical in F major, one melancholy in F-sharp minor, and one restrained in D major. With little change, these sections are then repeated a minor third higher – in A-flat major, A minor, and F major – thus creating a subtly different harmonic coloring.
After the scherzo, Presto, we come to the heart of the matter — the variations on “The Trout.” The strings play the tune, Andantino, but without the rippling piano that Schubert used in the song to suggest moving water. This is followed by five variations, ending the movement by repeating the piano rippling heard in the original.
The final movement, Allegro giusto, like the first movement, uses triplets to add to the merriment, and, like the second, has an unusual structure. The movement consists of two sections, the second section exactly like the first but in a different pitch. Thus, Schubert could play with shifting keys and still end in the home key of A major.
Notes for: July 13, 2021
Schubert wrote the “Trout” Quintet during a happy time in his life, before he had begun to suffer from the syphilis that would kill him at the age of 31. In the summer of 1819 the singer Johann Michael Vogl invited Schubert to vacation with him in Steyr, his picturesque hometown in Upper Austria. Schubert was enchanted by the town and the surrounding countryside.
During his stay Schubert met the wealthy music patron Sylvester Paumgartner, an enthusiastic amateur cellist who hosted musical evenings in his home. Paumgartner loved Schubert’s popular song “Die Forelle” (The Trout), a charming story of a fish that darts and splashes to escape a cunning angler. Paumbartner asked Schubert to write a piano quintet in which one of the movements would be variations on the song. Schubert agreed, began the quintet in Steyr, and finished it when he returned to Vienna in the fall. Thus was born one of chamber music’s best-loved works. The carefree weeks spent in Steyr, Schubert’s delight in the romantic landscape, the playful song about the nimble fish – all combined to inspire Schubert’s melodious and effervescent “Trout” Quintet.
There are many reasons for the Quintet’s enduring popularity. Like the song itself, the Quintet flows joyfully along, its texture enriched by the unusual instrumental combination. Each of the five movements overflows with melodic invention and harmonic color. An unusual feature of three of the movements – the Allegro vivace, the Andante, and the Finale – is that the second half of each is the same as the first, except in a different key. Among the many highlights of the Quintet are the high-spirited interplay among piano and strings from the very beginning of the opening Allegro vivace; the three wonderful contrasting themes of the songlike Andante; the unusual modulations of the rhythmic Scherzo; and the rambunctious Finale that brings the Quintet to its good-natured close. The heart of the piece, of course, is the delectable fourth movement, with its set of six variations on “The Trout.” Each of the instruments gets a chance to shine, in variations that range from subdued to brilliant to tempestuous to lyrical. Teasingly, Schubert saves for the last variation the leaping arpeggios found in the original song, which paint a picture of the trout darting around in the sparkling water.
Like so much of Schubert’s music, the “Trout” Quintet disappeared during his lifetime. After his death his brother found the manuscript and in 1829 sold it to a publisher. It has remained a popular and beloved work ever since.