Romantic Violin and Harp Duo
In winter 2019, harpist Vera Schnider and I performed Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata (transcribed for violin by Antonio Diabelli) as well as the sonata in c-minor WoO 23 by Louis Spohr (1784-1859) in the Wildt’sche Haus, Basel.
Louis Spohr composed many duos for violin and harp as he was married to the famous harpist Dorette Scheidler-Spohr, with whom he gave concerts throughout Europe. Vera Schnider played this sonata on an original Erard harp, the same model Mrs Scheidler used.
Replacing the piano with a harp accompaniment was a common practice in the early 19th century. In this concert, the famous Arpeggione Sonate sounded unusual and unfamiliar, but nevertheless natural when played on violin and harp. The arrangement by Diabelli works remarkably well on the violin: the overall high tessitura of the sonata is in line with the usual range and difficulty of the violin part in Schubert’s chamber music, giving it a brilliant and yet singing character.
This concert was organised by the Verein zur Förderung von Basler Absolventen auf dem Gebiet der Alten Musik.