Franz Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata - I. Allegro moderato - Guitar: Greg Smallman

Franz Schubert: Allegro from Sonata Arpeggione D.821 in a minor, arranged for two guitars and performed by J. Opitz v. Grafenstein on a 2009 Greg Smallman guitar. Schubert' s sonata for arpeggione and pianoforte was written in 1824. Arpeggione, also called guitar d'amour or violoncell-guitar, is tuned like a ordinary guitar. Johann Georg Staufer at the time (1823) in Vienna manufactured arpeggione as big as a Violoncello. The instrument had six string and was played like a violin with a bow. Arpeggione never became very popular in the 19th century - and the instrument never made it beyond the turn of century.