Nachtrag zu Franz Schuberts "Forellenquintett"

Johannes X. Schachtner, a composer, conductor and brilliant arranger of many traditional works by Fauré, Reinicke, Brahms and Puccini, who hails from Bavaria, understands and titles his contribution to the collaborative composition as Nachtrag zum Forellenquintett (Addendum to the Trout Quintet). He draws direct inspiration from the character of Schubert's original, placing the double bass at the centre of the action and translating the playfulness of the original into the language and aesthetics of contemporary music.

In 2017, pianist Silke Avenhaus collaborated with five contemporary composers – Johannes X. Schachtner (Germany), Ferran Cruixent (Spain), Gerald Resch (Austria), Osmo Tapio Räihälä (Finland) and Dejan Lazic (Croatia) to engage with Franz Schubert's famous Trout Quintet. The piano quintet, consisting of individual contributions from these composers, premiered on 2 October 2018. It is a stroke of luck that the new variations complement each other in the most exciting way – without any mutual consultation – from the ironic Trout Waltz to the setting of Schubert's initials F. SCH. in the virtuoso Bartókian 5/8 frenzy to the cyber variation, which, with the addition of a mobile app to be played, is reminiscent of the sound of a warped LP, the palette of these short new compositions, which can be performed following the Trout Quintet or as a stand-alone work, is wide-ranging.