The piece "Trout" is almost 40 minutes long. I see the whole work as a representation of the stream, the fish, the fisherman, and the relationship between the three. In the first and second movements I envisioned the fisherman as not yet present, so it is a wonderful interplay between the fish and the water in such a quiet and beautiful nature. In the first movement, when the piano expresses the fish's playfulness in the water, I can literally feel the tail fin stretching in the water and its splashing in the sunlight with rich colors. After the strings cross-fade into the water, the piano reverses itself to show the clarity and crystal of the stream, and the strings become the fish weaving through the water like an arrow. This kind of water play can only be heard in Schubert's music.

Schubert's music is often centered around an extremely lyrical dance-like tone pattern that is constantly processed through light and heavy changes, resulting in a series of delicate and interesting changes. Take, for example, the third and fifth movements of this work. I often feel that there is too much mystery in these natural, unintentional interests. This is the real reason why the sweet danceability of Schubert's music can be sweet but not cloying.

Listen to this work with an eye to the bass, to the cello-bass versus the piano, and don't forget that Schubert wrote for cellists.