Piano Quintet in A is nicknamed The Trout?

Piano Quintet in A is nicknamed The Trout?

• A. Schubert
• B. Bach
• C. Chopin
• D. Hieronymus Bosch

Answer: (A)

Nicknames for musical works often come from a distinctive source material or a memorable idea inside the piece. The Piano Quintet in A major earns the nickname The Trout because its fourth movement is a set of variations on Franz Schubert’s own song Die Forelle (The Trout). Schubert took the melody from that song and wove it into the finale, so the fish imagery of the song becomes a defining feature of the quintet’s character. That connection to Schubert and to Die Forelle is what makes the nickname stick. Bach and Chopin didn’t compose this particular quintet, and Hieronymus Bosch is a painter, not a composer, so they don’t fit as the origin of the work’s nickname.

Nicknames for musical works often come from a distinctive source material or a memorable idea inside the piece. The Piano Quintet in A major earns the nickname The Trout because its fourth movement is a set of variations on Franz Schubert’s own song Die Forelle (The Trout). Schubert took the melody from that song and wove it into the finale, so the fish imagery of the song becomes a defining feature of the quintet’s character. That connection to Schubert and to Die Forelle is what makes the nickname stick.

Bach and Chopin didn’t compose this particular quintet, and Hieronymus Bosch is a painter, not a composer, so they don’t fit as the origin of the work’s nickname.