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Schubert wrote no fewer than five versions of this song, and also based his Trout Quintet, D667 on it. It's a charming mini-drama, reflecting the naturalist theme of the Romantic period and Schubert's own sense of playfulness.

In the text, the narrator describes looking at a trout in the water, and his indignation when a fisherman catches it by unfair means. The famous six-note phrase that forms the majority of the accompaniment evokes the image of a fish literally rising to the bait. The vocal melody is equally light, until the moment when the fisherman muddies up the water to catch the fish, when both voice and piano change to a darker tone, creating the sense of a little drama enacted. (allmusic.com)


Die Forelle

In einem Bächlein helle,
Da schoß in froher Eil
Die launische Forelle
Vorüber wie ein Pfeil.
Ich stand an dem Gestade
Und sah in süßer Ruh
Des muntern Fischleins Bade
Im klaren Bächlein zu.

Ein Fischer mit der Rute
Wohl an dem Ufer stand,
Und sah's mit kaltem Blute,
Wie sich das Fischlein wand.
So lang dem Wasser Helle,
So dacht ich, nicht gebricht,
So fängt er die Forelle
Mit seiner Angel nicht.

Doch endlich ward dem Diebe
Die Zeit zu lang. Er macht
Das Bächlein tückisch trübe,
Und eh ich es gedacht,
So zuckte seine Rute,
Das Fischlein zappelt dran,
Und ich mit regem Blute
Sah die Betrogene an.

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (1739-1791)


The trout

In a bright little brook
there shot in merry haste
a capricious trout:
past it shot like an arrow.
I stood upon the shore
and watched in sweet peace
the cheery fish's bath
in the clear little brook.

A fisher with his rod
stood at the water-side,
and watched with cold blood
as the fish swam about.
So long as the clearness of the water
remained intact, I thought,
he would not be able to capture the trout
with his fishing rod.

But finally the thief grew weary
of waiting. He stirred up
the brook and made it muddy,
and before I realized it,
his fishing rod was twitching:
the fish was squirming there,
and with raging blood I
gazed at the betrayed fish.

Translation: Emily Ezust


Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (baritone)
Gerald Moore (piano)