Bridget Perez

Dr. Grapes MU 630

Assignment One
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Arpeggione

Although there were not many sources on this specific instrument, the short Oxford

Grove Music article that I came across, written by Gerald Hayes and musicologist Eszter

Fontana, was insightful in many ways. The article described the “apreggione” as a bass viol with

guitar like tunings, E–A–d–g–b–e′. The instrument was bowed like a cello and was especially

suited to playing runs in 3rds, double stops and arpeggios.

The article did, however, have a lot of speculation on who the instrument was invented

by and used many terms such as “claimed to be” and “possibly”. The article stated that the

instrument which was originally called a “bowed guitar”and “claimed” to be invented by J.G.

Stauffer and Peter Teufelsdorfer in 1823. It also stated that the violin maker Johann Ertl of

Vienna might also have contributed to the arpeggione’s invention; and that the concept of the

instrument possibly originated with J.G. Leeb of Pressburg, who may have experimented with

the construction of a bowed guitar 20 years earlier. This statement makes me question the true

origin of the arpeggione instrument.

Virtuosos of the instrument included Heinrich August Birnbach and Vincenz Schuster.

It was not until 1870s that the instrument was called “arpeggione” deriving from Schubert’s

“Sonata for arpeggione and piano”. Even though the piece already had an alternative cello part

written, Schubert seemed to have taken interest in the unique instrument to have written the

sonata originally for the arpeggione.

 Looking at the bibliography, most sources used in this article ranged from 1823-1991,

proving that some of the information is a bit outdated. I did not find any information about the

author Gerald Hayes but did come to find that the other author Eszter Fontana was a Hungarian

musicologist who was more than credible for writing this article. Although the article

thoroughly described the instrument as far as the tuning, shape and sound, the lack of origin

description and compositional works of the piece, made it not suitable for a class of students. If

it had more factual statements without speculations, maybe then would it have been more

suitable for a class of students.

Bibliography

Gerald Hayes and Eszter Fontana “Arpeggione [guitar violoncello, bowed guitar] (Fr. guitarre
d’amour; Ger. Sentiment, Bogenguitar, Violoncellguitarre)” in Grove Music Online (Oxford
University Press, 2001), accessed September 6, 2018,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001
/omo-9781561592630-e-0000001328

Maurice J.E. Brown, Eric Sams and Robert Winter “Schubert, Franz ( Peter )” in Grove Music
Online (Oxford University Press, 2001), accessed September, 2018,
http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001
/omo-9781561592630-e-0000025109?rskey=1BbEmS&result=3

“Arpeggione by Johann Georg Staufer, Vienna, 1824 (Musikinstrumenten-Museum, University

of Leipzig),” in Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press, 2018), accessed September 6,
2018, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/view/10.1093/omo/9781561592630.001.001/omo-
9781561592630-e-8000000307

Nicolas Deletaille, arpeggione and Alain Roudier, fortepiano, “Franz Schubert Sonata for
arpeggione & fortepiano- 1. Allegro moderato” published August 20,2012, accessed September
6, 2018, https://youtu.be/do9UgdfwM5Q