The first movement begins with strings, which produces rhythms and melodies producing a shadow of darkness. The movement develops with piano performance over quiet but rather heavy acoustics of strings. It directly proceeds to the rhythmic and strong second movement. In the second scherzo movement, the strings and piano switches back and forth in melodies and accompaniment. It ends in a dignified manner. As if there are some pauses, in the andante third movement, the cello enters and plays lyrical melodies.  There is some elegance in these melodies. In the fourth movement, allegro, the violin suddenly joins the other instruments in a very lively atmosphere. The violin clearly plays the subject.  As if they foreshadow the fact that they do not have much time left to express their emotions, all the instruments are densely involved to one another. It goes back to darkness and submerges at the end.

In addition to the completion of the work, his letter to the publisher reveals how much this piece personally meant to Brahms himself. 

“You might display a picture on the title-page, namely a head-with a pistol pointing at it. Now you can form an idea of the music! I will send you my photograph for this purpose! You could give it a blue frockcoat, yellow trousers, and riding boots since you appear to like color prints.”

The two movements in the string trio have strong connections among instruments without any special equipment. The introduction of the first movements starts with three section.  The rather rough beginning gives a heavy feeling similar to Cluster. Each section uses one of the three instruments as following; Violin (Slow and lively), Viola (Slow and wildly), and cello (a little fast and capriciously).

In the first movement, two adagios are performed. The first adagio is rather lyrical and the second adagio plays rhythmical passages at the end and immediately proceeds to the second movement. In the second movement, the passages resembling fugues appear. The viola plays the theme and the violin follows. The cello plays at the end of the work. The sounds of pizzicato and serene passages enter while strong and fast passages are performed. The fast passages emphasize harmonies. In the slow passages, each instrument does its superb job as a solo instrument.  

There exists a special characteristic in the arrangement of this quintet. Piano quintets usually add piano to a string quartet, but here Schubert uses only one violin and includes double bass. It is a five-movement work that features all elements of his chamber music, such as liveliness and elegance.

The first movement is in a classical sonata form.  The beautiful subject melodies appear as dialogues between piano and violin. This kind of dialogue gives some colors to the entire piece. The ternary-form second movement adds exquisite touch by using frequent transpositions (as did the first movement), while the third movement consists of dialogue among strings and piano that brings up the image of fugues. The youthful Schubert seems to have understood musical languages of Mozart and Bach very well and incorporated them to music in his own ways.

In the fourth movement, the piano enters after the calm introduction by strings, and very actively goes through changes. The colorful rhythms using subjects and variations, and the key changes between major and minor all gives a very fresh feeling.  Because of the incorporation of the subject from his song “Die Forelle”, the title of the quintet became “Die Forelle”