One of Franz Schubert’s most important chamber music works for string instruments is nowadays performed by violists and cellists, although it was originally written for neither. The “arpeggione”, for which Schubert wrote his eponymous sonata, was an invention of the Romantic that is as good as extinct. This instrument had a soft sound that apparently reminded listeners of a woodwind. Its lyrical character makes it related to the viola to a certain extent.
