Previous posts for January 31st are here: Franz Schubert; George Benjamin (2020), Philip Glass; Mario Lanza (2021), Justin Timberlake; Carol Channing (2022), Franz Schubert (2023), and Philip Glass; Gioseffo Zarlino (2024)
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Franz Schubert (31 January 1797 – 19 November 1828) was one of the greatest nineteenth century composers.
Memento mori
Would anyone remember you
If you had died at thirty-two?
(Well, technically at thirty-one
But closer enough for rhyming fun).
The point is that his time was done,
And he was gone, deceased, departed,
About when most of us get started.
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The Trout Quintet Story
The quintet was written for Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy music patron and amateur cellist who also suggested that Schubert include a set of variations on the Lied. — Wikipedia, s.v. “Trout Quintet”
When Schubert received the commission
The patron attached a condition:
He said, “Figure out
How your song called ‘The Trout’
Can be used in your new composition.”
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Samsung Sings: Trout Variations
Samsung washing machines and clothes dryers play an arrangement of the first portion of the fourth movement upon finishing a spin cycle. – Wikipedia, s.v. “Trout Quintet”
(1)
Whenever a buyer inquires
Regarding their washers and dryers,
The salesman will tout
That it tootles “The Trout”
Which outclasses the other suppliers.
(2)
There isn’t a shade of a doubt
That a washer that tootles “The Trout”
Adds a touch of refinement
To an audible sign meant
To tell you your clothes can come out.
