In 1818, the 21 year old Franz Schubert took a walking trip through the Austrian Alps. While there, he was the guest of Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy merchant, whose whole family consisted of string players. Old Sylvester played a mean string bass.
Sylvester asked Schubert to write a piece that included a set of variations on his song, "The Trout". Schubert wrote a five movement Quintet for Piano and Strings in A Major. The string complement was different from the usual: one each violin, viola, cello and bass. Schubert wrote out the string parts, and the family sat down one night and played this piece. Schubert didn't write out the piano part, however. It was all in his head, and he played it from memory.
This video is of a group that billed itself as the Kosher Nostra. On first violin was Itzhak Perlman; on viola, Pinchas Zuckerman; on cello, Jacqueline du Pre, who is now deceased; on string bass, Zubin Mehta, usually seen as a conductor; on piano, Daniel Barenboim, who was married to Jackie at the time. This video is a major document of the Sixties.
Thanks for sharing! Hope your day was wonderful! :)
Thanks, Publius, for all the good listening this Thanksgiving evening. ((HUGS))