Schubert, Franz 1797-1828

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