Sonate für Arpeggione und Klavier D821
Composer: Franz Schubert
Date of publication: 1824
Nickname: Arpeggione Sonata
Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata carries a fragile, tender tone, reflecting the composer's health - At the time, Schubert was gravely ill and frail from syphilis.
Schubert wrote and dedicated this sonata to Vincenz Schuster, an arpeggione virtuoso. The arpeggione is a fretted, guitar-like instrument created by luthiers Johann Georg Staufer and Peter Teufelsdorfer in 1823. It's tuned in the exact same way as a guitar, with open string notes E, A, D, G, B, and E. However, it is played with a bow and held between the knees like a cello except without the support of an endpin. For these reasons, it is commonly known as the bowed guitar, the violincello guitar, or the guitarre d'amore. The arpeggione is now a lost instrument of the past because of its impracticality, despite its tender and warm sound and aptitude for arpeggios, doublestops, and chords. The lack of an endpin made keeping the instrument between one's knees became a hassle. The arpeggione's guitar-like body made it extremely awkward to play, especially through fortes. The arpeggione was physically limited to a very quiet range of dynamics, making aggressive, emotional dynamics desired in the romantic era very hard to achieve. Additionally, its 6 strings make it infinitely harder to play on only one string at a time compared to the rest of the viol family, which only have 4 strings. The remaining arpeggiones today can be found in museums, such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York.
Today, Schubert's Sonata is usually played by the viola with the accompaniment of an orchestra or piano, but it has been transcribed and played by the cello as well. The viola fits the arpeggione's place surprisingly well with a warm tone similar to that of the arpeggione's. The Sonata often shifts its mood, creating a very fluid, foggy, and light character, likened to rain. The piece also often switches from A minor to its parallel major.
Fun Fact: Schubert's original manuscript for the piece is written entirely in treble clef and one octave higher than it is intended to be played in order to not use too many ledger lines.
Movements:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto
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