he didn’t have a record deal. Not that he would have, in 1819, but he also didn’t have any of the 19th century equivalents, like a patron to sponsor public concerts of his works. All he had was a gentleman named Sylvester Paumgartner, who loved his song "The Trout," and asked him to write something based on it, using piano, violin, viola, cello, and -- this was an unusual choice -- a double bass, There weren’t any plans for any public performance; Paumgartner just asked a few friends to come over, and play the piece in his living room.
So when Yo Yo Ma and his old friend Emanuel Ax planned a recording of what later came to be called the "Trout" quintet, they thought it made sense to begin with the song, a deceptive little gem which (as the lyrics show) isn’t quite as cheerful as it sounds. Like the quintet, it wouldn’t have been performed in public. Paumgartner might have heard it only because one of his frequent houseguests, a singer, was a friend of Schubert’s. With the song on this recording, everyone can have what must have been Paumgartner’s experience --listening with eager curiosity to the first three movements of the quintet, then smiling when the fourth movement begins, so peacefully, with the melody you wondered if you’d ever hear.

To round out the CD, Yo Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax -- who met when both were in music school -- play the "Arpeggione" sonata, which Schubert (in a none too commercial move) wrote in 1824 for an experimental instrument, a kind of cello built with six strings and frets, like a guitar. The instrument (Schubert may have invented the name "arpeggione" for it) never caught on, and after the work was finally published in 1871, long after Schubert’s death, the music became fair game for both violists and cellists.
It’s important that Ma and Ax are friends, because friendship, a major theme in Schubert’s musical life, is a major theme of this recording. "Yo Yo and I," says Ax, "like to be very relaxed, and very open." And that’s exactly the spirit everyone in the group communicates. Pamela Frank, the violinist, is an established solo and chamber player, and a frequent Ma and Ax collaborator. Edgar Meyer, the bassist, is a newer friend, a Nashville-based musician who composes, and plays recording sessions for country artists like Garth Brooks as well as chamber music. But if he was a surprise choice, Rebecca Young, assistant principal violist with the New York Philharmonic, was absolutely floored when Ma invited her to play on the recording:

Rebecca Young: I’ve played the "Trout" a million times but not with the likes of these guys. When Yo Yo asked me, I told him "Now I know you’re crazy!"

Yo Yo Ma: Everybody was chosen because they truly are collaborative people. Becky is honest and spunky, absolutely upfront with who she is. She’s a natural leader.

Edgar Meyer: She plays the viola beautifully. And the viola has a wild role in this band. She goes from being Pam’s harmony partner to filling in all the bumps and clicks in the middle of the music, from pure texture to sheer melody. She does a wonderful job.

Yo Yo Ma: As for Edgar, he’s a deep, deep well. He’s a genuine original

Emanuel Ax: He’s a very subtle and beautiful player, with great variation of color. It was wonderful to hear those bass notes played with so many different weights.

If you’re starting to think these people liked playing together, you’re absolutely right.

Pamela Frank: We all adored each other. And the "Trout" is such an open, happy piece. There’s no room for agonizing and debate. It sort of plays itself, if you have five people who are as attuned to each other as we were.

Yo Yo Ma: You can tell when you play with someone just by looking at their eyes, where their soul is. If they’re closed in, they can’t really look at you When you play with Pam, you can tell that she’s constantly looking, adjusting, thinking things out. She’s like a painter, trying to get the proportion and balance right. And all with a wonderful spirit.

Rebecca Young: When you play with Yo Yo, he looks over, even leans over toward you. He makes eye contact. He brings you right into the music

Edgar Meyer: Yo Yo always wants to stay stimulated, he doesn’t want to play the piece the same way twice. And Manny does a lot of little things I’ve never heard before, the way he reacts to the exact way that the four people have just played something. If someone's a little stiff, he’ll be freer. If someone’s being very free, he can put a frame around it.

Pamela Frank: Manny is a punster, always ready to laugh. And Yo Yo is always making jokes.

Rebecca Young: It’s rare to play in a group where each individual is such a character. Once I was in the control room, listening to a take, and suddenly there’s a pad in my lap. Edgar wanted me to write down all the dirty limericks I know!

They all love the music -- though some of them say it isn’t always so easy to play:

Edgar Meyer: The "Trout" gets grief from some folks, who think it’s a little light. They get excited about the contrast with the heavier, more serious music Schubert wrote later in his life. But I can’t think of a piece that has a better collection of melodies, and for me that’s enough. When you’re playing, you sing the all the melodies in your head, and the bass line just falls out from the melody.

Rebecca Young: Everything sings.

Yo Yo Ma: And where you think there’s light, there’s actually a little bit of darkness. Schubert specializes in dealing with things that are just beyond your grasp, the gray areas between happiness and sadness.

Rebecca Young: But I have to say that the second movement bugs me, because it’s technically difficult. It has so sound so simple, but the way it’s written, I have to get my hand in very strange positions to play it.

Emanuel Ax: The piano part sounds simple, because there are many passages where your two hands play the same music in octaves. There’s a passage like that in the fourth movement that every pianist dreads. You have to duplicate the same music in both hands, but the hands are built in opposite directions. That gets really unpleasant!

They enjoyed their performance:

Pamela Frank: I remember one thing very vividly -- the melody of the "Trout" song, in the fourth movement. It’s one of those things that’s so simple, it’s almost too difficult to play. I tried it a million different ways, and then when we got to that spot, the karma was so good, there was only one way it was going to go.

Yo Yo Ma: It was remarkably uncluttered…really nice!

Pamela Frank: The only thing I had to get used to was the third movement, which, in my own mind, I heard going a bit slower.

Emanuel Ax: I kept pushing it faster, I’m afraid. I like it fast!

Edgar Meyer: And he also likes it terribly precise. Some people would do that way to prove a point, to show how fast they can play. But with Manny it was part of the balance of the entire piece. He carefully chose this way of doing the Scherzo, which really sets the movement apart.

Emanuel Ax: The nice thing, I suppose, is that everyone felt comfortable enough to be absolutely free. There was absolutely no personal tension. It almost wasn’t like work! You put a lot of energy and thought into the musical side of it, but when you’re playing, it feels like a vacation.

copyright © 1996 by Greg Sandow