"IN THE COMPANY OF FRIENDS"

The Program

Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667 “The Trout” - Franz SCHUBERT (1797-1828)

Schubert’s chamber music is all about intimacy. Most composers are at home in a large concert hall. For Schubert, his music was most at home in the "Schubertiade". These were small, intimate concerts his friends would host. They were not about musicians performing for the audience, but for musicians and audience to share in the music. He saw the listener as an equal in the experience.

Schubert was a prolific writer of songs, which were usually performed at these events. One of his most famous was "Die Forelle" or in English, "The Trout". One of his patrons, Sylvester Paumgartner, commissioned him to write a quintet incorporating the song’s melody. In the summer of 1819, he embarked on a walking tour of upper Austria. It was during this time he wrote the quintet, and his love of nature is embedded throughout the piece. "I can’t think of a more appropriate work to usher in the summer than this masterpiece!”

-Bill Everett, Artistic Director, Music With a Mission, Double Bassist