Two excellent questions that one might ask ahead of our concert with the Kalesidoscope Chamber Collective (pictured) this Saturday.<\/p>\n
First lets take a look at the Schubert and get a bit of context.\u00a0 <\/span>Written when he was just 22, it\u2019s for an unusual combination of instruments – whereas Quintets are usually a string quartet plus a piano, he wrote his for the more unusual combination of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass.<\/p>\n It got its name because of the fourth movement, which is a set of variations on a song Schubert had written before called, you guessed it, The Trout<\/i>. Displaying some very 18th century attitudes, part of that song was a warning to young women about about being caught \u2018angling\u2019 for men. But Schubert, probably wisely, decided not to concentrate on that aspect of things and instead sought to focus on conjuring up the image of the trout in the water.<\/p>\n Ok, that\u2019s a little history, but why is this piece so well known? One reason could be its pretty inventive use of the 5 piece ensemble, and in particular the piano part. The way it\u2019s written gives the piece a unique sound, with the addition of the double bass freeing up the pianist to concentrate on their higher notes for much of the time.<\/p>\n A more simple reason for its popularity might just be that it\u2019s got a lot of great tunes in it, and reflects a carefree period in the composers life – a summer holiday in the idyllic countryside which was a refreshing change for the city-dwelling young man. Cheerful, memorable, and full of fun, it\u2019s really pretty hard to dislike as a piece of music.<\/p>\n Two other things which are good to know but are unlikely to have massively contributed to its popularity – it was used as the theme music for the BBC series Waiting for God, <\/i>and apparently some Samsung washing machines play it when they finish a spin cycle! (see video evidence below\u2026)<\/p>\n