Jacob Kellermann, the guitarist, believes Schubert's musical style was shaped by the guitar's popularity among middle-class Viennese society, even if Schubert himself didn't attribute particular artistic value to guitar arrangements.
Performer Biography
Duo KeMi, consisting of Daniel Migdal (violin) and Jacob Kellermann (guitar), won first prize in the prestigious Aschaffenburg Internationaler Wettbewerb für Kammermusik mit Gitarre in 2010, launching their international career.
Historical Context
From 1815 to 1848, Vienna experienced a period of carefree socializing known as the Biedermeier, a term representing the 'plain, unpretentious, common man'.
Instruments
Schubert owned two guitars when he died; one built around 1805 by Bernard Enzensperger is in the Wien Museum, and another from 1815 by Johann Georg Staufer is in the Wiener Schubertbund choir's collection.
Instruments
Johann Georg Staufer, a guitar maker, invented the Bogen-guitarre, also known as the guitarre-violoncell or arpeggione, for which Schubert composed his Sonata in A minor.
Composer Biography
Schubert's father, Franz Theodor, played the cello, and some suggest Schubert may have received guitar lessons from him, though there is no definitive evidence.
Interpretation
Daniel Migdal, the violinist, notes that playing Schubert with a guitar instead of a modern piano creates a more intimate and flexible sound world, resembling a fortepiano but with more warmth and sensitivity.
