Trout Quintet
Encyclopedia
The Trout Quintet is the popular name for the Piano Quintet
in A major
by Franz Schubert
. In Otto Erich Deutsch
's catalogue of Schubert's works, it is D. 667. The work was composed in 1819,
when Schubert was only 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.
Rather than the usual piano quintet lineup of piano
and string quartet
, Schubert's piece is written for piano, violin
, viola
, cello
and double bass
. The composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel
had rearranged his own Septet for the same instrumentation,
and the Trout was actually written for a group of musicians coming together to play Hummel's work.
The piece is known as the Trout because the fourth movement is a set of variations on Schubert's earlier Lied
"Die Forelle
" (The Trout). Apparently, the quintet was written for Sylvester Paumgartner, of Steyr
in Upper Austria, a wealthy music patron and amateur cellist, who also suggested that Schubert include a set of variations on the Lied. Sets of variations on melodies from his Lieder are found in four other works by Schubert: the Death and the Maiden Quartet, the "Trockne Blumen" Variations for Flute and Piano (D. 802), the Wanderer Fantasy
, and the Fantasia in C major for Violin and Piano (D. 934, on "Sei mir gegrüßt").
The rising sextuplet figure from the song's accompaniment is used as a unifying motive throughout the quintet, and related figures appear in four out of the five movements - all but the Scherzo. As in the song, the figure is usually introduced by the piano, ascending.
s and the string quintet
, the Trout Quintet is a leisurely work, characterized by lower structural coherence, especially in its outer movements and the Andante. These movements contain unusually long repetitions of previously stated material, perhaps transposed, with little or no structural reworking aimed at generating an overall unified dramatic design ("mechanical" in Martin Chusid's words).
The importance of the piece stems mainly from the use of an original and innovative harmonic language, rich in mediant
s and chromaticism
, and from the timbral
characteristics of the piece. As regards the latter, the Trout Quintet has a unique sonority among other chamber works for piano and strings, due mainly to the piano part, which for substantial sections of the piece concentrates on the highest register of the instrument, with both hands playing the same melodic line an octave apart. Such writing occurs also in other chamber works by Schubert, such as the piano trios, but to a much lesser extent, and is characteristic of Schubert's works for piano four-hands
, one of his most personal musical genres. Such timbral writing may have influenced the works of Romantic
composers such as Frédéric Chopin
, who admired Schubert's music for piano four-hands
The quintet is the basis of Christopher Nupen
's influential 1969 film The Trout with Itzhak Perlman
, Pinchas Zukerman
, Jacqueline du Pré
, Daniel Barenboim
and Zubin Mehta
performing at Queen Elizabeth Hall
in London.
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
in A major
A major
A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps.Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor...
by Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
. In Otto Erich Deutsch
Otto Erich Deutsch
Otto Erich Deutsch was an Austrian musicologist. He is known for compiling the first comprehensive catalogue of the works of Franz Schubert, first published in 1951 in English, new edition in 1978 in German...
's catalogue of Schubert's works, it is D. 667. The work was composed in 1819,
when Schubert was only 22 years old; it was not published, however, until 1829, a year after his death.
Rather than the usual piano quintet lineup of piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, Schubert's piece is written for piano, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
. The composer Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
had rearranged his own Septet for the same instrumentation,
and the Trout was actually written for a group of musicians coming together to play Hummel's work.
The piece is known as the Trout because the fourth movement is a set of variations on Schubert's earlier Lied
Lied
is a German word literally meaning "song", usually used to describe romantic songs setting German poems of reasonably high literary aspirations, especially during the nineteenth century, beginning with Carl Loewe, Heinrich Marschner, and Franz Schubert and culminating with Hugo Wolf...
"Die Forelle
Die Forelle
Franz Schubert composed his lively lied "Die Forelle" in early 1817 for solo voice and piano. The text is from a poem by Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart. In the Deutsch catalog of Schubert's works it is number 550, or D550...
" (The Trout). Apparently, the quintet was written for Sylvester Paumgartner, of Steyr
Steyr
Steyr is a town, located in the Austrian federal state of Upper Austria. The town is situated at the confluence of the rivers Steyr and Enns. Steyr is Austria's 12th most populated town and simultaneously the 3rd largest town in Upper Austria....
in Upper Austria, a wealthy music patron and amateur cellist, who also suggested that Schubert include a set of variations on the Lied. Sets of variations on melodies from his Lieder are found in four other works by Schubert: the Death and the Maiden Quartet, the "Trockne Blumen" Variations for Flute and Piano (D. 802), the Wanderer Fantasy
Wanderer Fantasy
The Fantasie in C major, Op. 15 , popularly known as the Wanderer Fantasy, is a four-movement fantasy for solo piano composed by Franz Schubert in November 1822. It is considered Schubert's most technically demanding composition for the piano...
, and the Fantasia in C major for Violin and Piano (D. 934, on "Sei mir gegrüßt").
The rising sextuplet figure from the song's accompaniment is used as a unifying motive throughout the quintet, and related figures appear in four out of the five movements - all but the Scherzo. As in the song, the figure is usually introduced by the piano, ascending.
Structure
- 1. Allegro vivaceVivaceVivace is Italian for "lively" and "vivid". It is pronounced in the International Phonetic Alphabet.Vivace is used as an Italian musical term indicating a movement that is in a lively mood ....
in sonata formSonata formSonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
. As commonplace in works of the Classical genre, the exposition shifts from tonicTonic (music)In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
to dominantDominant (music)In music, the dominant is the fifth scale degree of the diatonic scale, called "dominant" because it is next in importance to the tonic,and a dominant chord is any chord built upon that pitch, using the notes of the same diatonic scale...
; however, Schubert's harmonic language is innovative, incorporating many mediantMediantIn music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
s and submediantSubmediantIn music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'...
s. This is evident from almost the beginning of the piece: after stating the tonic for ten bars, the harmony shifts abruptly into F major (the flattened submediant) in the eleventh bar. The development section starts with a similar abrupt shift, from E major (at the end of the exposition) to C major. Harmonic movement is slow at first, but becomes quicker; towards the return of the first theme, the harmony modulates in ascending half tones. The recapitulation begins in the subdominantSubdominantIn music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance "below" the tonic as the dominant is above the tonic - in other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdominant. It is also the note immediately...
, making any modulatory changes in the transition to the second theme unnecessary - a frequent phenomenon in early sonata form movements written by Schubert. It differs from the exposition only in omitting the opening bars and another short section, before the closing theme.
- 2. Andante in F major (the flattened submediant of the work's main key, A major). This movement is composed of two symmetrical sections, the second being a transposed version of the first, except for some differences of modulation which allow the movement to end in the same key in which it began. A feature of this movement is its tonal layout: the tonality changes chromatically, in ascending half tones, according to the following scheme (some intermediate keys of lower structural significance have been omitted): F major - F sharp minor - G major - A flat major - A minor - F major.
- 3. ScherzoScherzoA scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
: PrestoPresto-As a common word:* An incantation or interjection used by some stage magicians* A musical score marking indicating a fast tempo* An exclamation to mean: [to be completed] right away, instantly, i.e. "magically"-Places:*Presto, Bolivia...
. This movement also contains mediant tonalities, such as the ending of the first section of the Scherzo proper, which is in C major - the flattened mediant.
- 4. AndantinoAndantinoAndantino can refer to:*Andantino , an Italian tempo marking meaning a tempo that is slightly faster than Andante but slower than Moderato*Andantino , a Jerome Robbins ballet*Andantino , a two-player board game...
- Allegretto in D major (the subdominant of the work's main key), a theme and variations on Schubert's Lied Die Forelle. As typical of some other variation movements by Schubert (in contrast to Beethoven's style), the variations do not transform the original theme into new thematic material; rather, they concentrate on melodic decoration and changes of mood. In each of the first few variations the main theme is played by a different instrument or group. In the fifth variation, Schubert begins in the flat submediant (B flat major), and creates a series of modulations eventually leading back to the movement's main key, at the beginning of the final sixth variation. A similar process is heard in three of Schubert's later compositions: the octet in F major, D. 803Octet (Schubert)The Octet in F major, D. 803 was composed by Franz Schubert in March 1824. It was commissioned by the renowned clarinetist Ferdinand Troyer and came from the same period as two of Schubert's other major chamber works, the Rosamunde and the Death and the Maiden string quartets.-Structure:Consisting...
(fourth movement); the piano sonata in A minor, D. 845Piano Sonata in A minor, D. 845 (Schubert)The Piano Sonata No. 16 in A minor, D. 845 by Franz Schubert is a sonata for solo piano, composed in May 1825. The sonata is in four movements:*I. Moderato*II. Andante, poco mosso in C major...
(second movement); and the Impromptu in B-flat major, D. 935 No. 3. The concluding variation is similar to the original Lied, sharing the same characteristic accompaniment in the piano.
- 5. Allegro giusto. The Finale is in two symmetrical sections, like the second movement. However, the movement differs from the second movement in the absence of unusual chromaticism, and in the second section being an exact transpositionTransposition (music)In music transposition refers to the process, or operation, of moving a collection of notes up or down in pitch by a constant interval.For example, one might transpose an entire piece of music into another key...
of the first (except for some changes of octave register). A repeat sign is written for the first section: if one adheres meticulously to the score, the movement consists of three lengthy, almost identical repeats of the same musical material. Performers sometimes choose to omit the repeat of the first section when playing. Although this movement lacks the chromaticism of the second movement, its own harmonic design is also innovative: the first section ends in D major, the subdominant. This is contradictory to the aesthethics of the Classical musical style, in which the first major harmonic event in a musical piece or movement, is the shift from tonic to dominant (or, more rarely, to mediant or submediant - but never to the subdominant).
Musical significance
Compared to other major chamber works by Schubert, such as the last three string quartetString quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s and the string quintet
String Quintet (Schubert)
The String Quintet in C major, D. 956, op. posth. 163, is a piece of chamber music written by Franz Schubert. It was composed during the summer of 1828, two months before his death, and is Schubert's final chamber work. The Quintet was first performed on 17 November 1850 at the Musikverein in...
, the Trout Quintet is a leisurely work, characterized by lower structural coherence, especially in its outer movements and the Andante. These movements contain unusually long repetitions of previously stated material, perhaps transposed, with little or no structural reworking aimed at generating an overall unified dramatic design ("mechanical" in Martin Chusid's words).
The importance of the piece stems mainly from the use of an original and innovative harmonic language, rich in mediant
Mediant
In music, the mediant is the third scale degree of the diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant. Similarly, the submediant is halfway between the tonic and subdominant...
s and chromaticism
Chromaticism
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. Chromaticism is in contrast or addition to tonality or diatonicism...
, and from the timbral
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
characteristics of the piece. As regards the latter, the Trout Quintet has a unique sonority among other chamber works for piano and strings, due mainly to the piano part, which for substantial sections of the piece concentrates on the highest register of the instrument, with both hands playing the same melodic line an octave apart. Such writing occurs also in other chamber works by Schubert, such as the piano trios, but to a much lesser extent, and is characteristic of Schubert's works for piano four-hands
Piano four-hands
Piano four hands is a specific form of duet for a single piano with two players. A duet with the players playing separate instruments is a piano duo....
, one of his most personal musical genres. Such timbral writing may have influenced the works of Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
composers such as Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, who admired Schubert's music for piano four-hands
The quintet is the basis of Christopher Nupen
Christopher Nupen
Christopher Nupen is a South African-born filmmaker based in the United Kingdom specialising in biographical documentaries of musicians.Nupen was born in South Africa to a family of Norwegian descent — his father, E. P...
's influential 1969 film The Trout with Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli-born violinist, conductor, and instructor of master classes. He is regarded as one of the pre-eminent violinists of the 20th and early-21st centuries.-Early life:...
, Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman
Pinchas Zukerman is a world-renowned violinist, violist, and conductor. He is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th and 21st centuries, and his ongoing 45-year career has seen him perform with the world's best-known orchestras and record over 100 works...
, Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline du Pré
Jacqueline Mary du Pré OBE was a British cellist. She is particularly associated with Elgar's Cello Concerto in E Minor; her interpretation has been described as "definitive" and "legendary." Her career was cut short by multiple sclerosis, which forced her to stop performing at 28 and led to her...
, Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim
Daniel Barenboim, KBE is an Argentinian-Israeli pianist and conductor. He has served as music director of several major symphonic and operatic orchestras and made numerous recordings....
and Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music. He is the Music Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.-Biography:...
performing at Queen Elizabeth Hall
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall is a music venue on the South Bank in London, United Kingdom that hosts daily classical, jazz, and avant-garde music and dance performances. The QEH forms part of Southbank Centre arts complex and stands alongside the Royal Festival Hall, which was built for the Festival...
in London.
External links
- Recording of full quintet by The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
from the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
in MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
format