Within the three movements of Franz Schubert’s “Arpeggione” Sonata in A minor, D. 821, are poignant melodies from the great master of the lieder set alongside sparkling virtuosic passages. The sonata is a satisfying piece for performer and audience. It’s hugely popular, even though the arpeggione, the instrument for which it was originally composed, is now almost forgotten.
The best performances of the sonata make it sound effortlessly beautiful, a result that can only come about through long hours of practice. “The most difficult thing is to reach simplicity with beautiful expression,” says Madrid-based violist Wenting Kang. “It’s easy to do too much and it’s easy to do too little.” It’s also essential to capture the tender character of the sonata, which was written when Schubert was already ill with what was almost certainly syphilis, which would kill him four years later. “You can feel the fragility in the music and I think it’s very touching,” comments cellist Gautier Capucon.
Schubert wrote the sonata in 1824 and dedicated it to Vincenz Schuster, a virtuoso and champion of the arpeggione. The fretted, six-stringed arpeggione—then known as bowed guitar, violoncello guitar, or guitarre d’amore—is connected to the viol family.
Here are Gil Shaham and Goeran Soellscher to play it for you:
