[YeitSuda] Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata That Soaks Autumn

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] November 19 marked the 194th anniversary of Schubert's death. Coincidentally, the concert program I attended that day included his representative posthumous work, the "Arpeggione Sonata." Veteran violist Kim Namjoong, who performed a solo recital, explained the program by saying, "This piece was often played when I first started viola because my father really liked it, but now, decades later, I tend to avoid it, feeling that I have never fully understood Schubert's loneliness in my heart."

The Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, D.821, is a short piece lasting about 20 minutes, but it is especially beloved in autumn for its beautiful yet sorrowful melody. The arpeggione is an instrument made in 1823 by Austrian Viennese instrument maker Georg Staufer, which had six guitar-like strings that had to be played with a bow. Because it was difficult to play and not very loud, it was forgotten by the public within about ten years of its introduction. However, Schubert was fascinated by this challenging instrument and readily composed a sonata for it, leaving it to the world. The sad yet beautiful melody, as if proving that such an instrument existed and perhaps reflecting his own struggle for self-affirmation, captivates the listener's ears and heart throughout the performance.

Schubert completed this piece in November 1824 and is believed by scholars to have performed it with his friend Vincenzo Schuster, an arpeggione player. During the time he was composing this piece, he was enduring days of loneliness and suffering. In the summer of 1823, he contracted syphilis and was hospitalized for several months, battling the disease. However, he suffered from hair loss and skin rashes due to side effects of the treatment. In a letter to his friend and portrait painter Leopold Kupelwieser, he lamented, "I am the most unfortunate man in the world. Imagine a man whose health can never return to normal, a man despairing because of it."

Schubert's loneliness deepened. In a diary entry from that year, he wrote, "Every night when I fall asleep, I wish I would not open my eyes again. But when morning comes, the sorrow of the previous day assaults me again. The day passes without joy or comfort." Nevertheless, he wrote, "Only works created by sorrow can bring the greatest joy to people. Sorrow strengthens the spirit."

Though short, poor, with unkempt hair and an introverted personality, Schubert had many friends who cherished and supported his music. They gathered once or twice a week in small salons to sing or perform Schubert's newly composed pieces, spending social evenings together. The term Schubertiade, meaning "Schubert's night," referred to these gatherings and was the most popular social club in 1820s Vienna, Austria.

Therese Grob, known as Schubert's first love, was a soprano singer, and their families were close. She performed the solo in Schubert's mass "Lord, Have Mercy." Schubert also gave her younger brother a collection of his compositions to maintain their relationship. However, because Schubert was a poor musician without a stable job, her family opposed their relationship, and their love ended without fulfillment. Schubert remained unmarried and lived as a bachelor thereafter.

As his illness worsened, Schubert suffered from memory loss, vomiting, and high fever. On November 19, 1828, at the age of 31, he passed away at his brother's house. Muttering that he disliked being buried and being alone, he exclaimed, "Beethoven is not here," before closing his eyes. His friends buried him in Vienna's W?hring Cemetery, right next to Beethoven, whom he deeply admired. As autumn passes, the melodies of the composer who sought to bring joy to the world through music, even as his life faded amid loneliness and sorrow, continue to resonate.