Arpeggione

The arpeggione is a six-stringed musical instrument, fretted and tuned like a guitar, but bowed like a cello, and thus similar to the bass viola da gamba.^photo The body shape of the instrument, is however more similar to a medieval fiddle than either the guitar or the bass viol.

It enjoyed a brief vogue, perhaps a decade, after its invention around 1823, by the Viennese guitar maker Johann Georg Stauffer (1778-1853). The only notable piece extant for the instrument is a sonata with piano accompaniment by Franz Schubert, D.821, not published until 1871, when the arpeggione was long defunct. This sonata is now commonly played on the cello or viola.

More recently Nicolas Deletaille has reintroduced the instrument by playing not only its repertoire (notably Schubert's Sonata), but also by playing the contemporary repertoire and encouraging composers to write new music for this instrument.

References

• Sadie, Stanley, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, vol. 16, 6th. ed., London: Macmillan Press Limited, 1980. s.v. “Schubert, Franz” by Maurice J. E. Brown.
• Tree, Michael, “Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata.” The Strad Magazine, vol. 105, February 1994, p.142. (Master-Class on the Sonata)
• Aquino, F. Avellar de. "Six-Stringed Virtuoso". in The Strad Magazine, Harrow, Middlesex, UK, v. 109, n. 1297, p. 500-507, May 1998. (about the Arpeggione and Schubert's Sonata)

External links

• Nicolas Deletaille's webpage on the arpeggione, a lot of useful information on the arpeggione
• Home of the guitarviol. This electric instrument is a modern equivalent, perhaps closer to Staufer's original instrument.
• Homepage of the "Arpeggione World". Osamu Okumura, Japanese has restored OK-model and Anton Mitteisーmodel of Arpeggione making by himself.