Trout Quintet / Quartet No. 12 In C Minor (Quartettsatz)

The Trout Quintet, formally known as the Piano Quintet in A Major, D. 667, was composed by Franz Schubert in 1819. It earned its famous moniker from its fourth movement, a set of variations on Schubert’s own earlier song, Die Forelle. The work is celebrated for its unusual instrumentation, featuring piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass, which grants it a unique, buoyant sonority that stands apart from the typical string quartet configuration.

This specific recording was produced by Nippon Columbia, a label long respected for its high-fidelity captures of chamber music. The Smetana Quartet, founded in 1945, was a premier Czechoslovakian ensemble renowned for its precise, refined interpretations of the classical canon. Joined by pianist Jan Panenka and bassist František Pošta, the group sought to deliver a performance characterized by lyrical clarity and rhythmic vitality, qualities that became the hallmark of the Smetana Quartet's international reputation during the mid-20th century.