Franz Schubert: Sonata per Arpeggione

The 'Sonata d'arpeggione' was originally written for the guitarre d'amour or arpeggione - a kind of enlarged guitar that could be bowed cello-style. The instrument did not survive longer than a few years, but this piece by Schubert is a lovely reminder. This edition is transcribed for flute by James Galway and edited by Phillip Moll for the Great Performer's Edition series.

The opening Allegro Moderato is built around a wistful melody. A second theme proceeds in gentle gusts of semiquavers (the arpeggione could not play fast notes with much volume at all, and so the Sonata's quicker portions are almost always marked piano or pianissimo).

The Adagio is a rich but introverted musing on an almost hymn-like subject, at the end Schubert invites the soloist to improvise a brief transition into the final, multi-sectioned Allegretto.