The trout was jumping last night.

Franz Schubert, the Austrian composer, wrote “The Trout Quintet” in 1819. He was 22. Franz died nine years later at the age of 31. In his short lifetime, Franz Schubert wrote almost 1,000 pieces of music, including 600 Lieder, a German word for a type of song setting a romantic poem to music. Because his life was so short, there was little time for the public to appreciate his work. Today, he is widely appreciated and his music is performed as often as any on our planet. Schubert died in Vienna on November 19, 1828. He was a romantic who loved songs. A friend commented after his death that he was the “King of Song.”

Listening to The Trout Quintet, I could hear and see the fish dart and flash as it played in the crystal brooklet. “Was never fish so lively, nor frolicsome as he.” But then the angler sullied the crystal water and enticed the fish to take the bait and lose its life. “And I was left lamenting, the fate of that poor trout.” Perhaps Franz could sense he was fated not to spend much time with us, so he played and frolicked in his music with an excitement and intensity that could not last long but would leave much for others.

Some stars shine bright and then are gone, too soon.

Grandpa Jim