he Adagio (second movement), like the rest of the sonata, loses a few of the familiar crutch harmonics on the top string when played in A minor rather than G minor, but it is otherwise not strongly impacted by the choice of key, the one exception being the low E in m. 67. Taking this note, or the entire passage containing it, up an octave tampers with the formal construction of the sonata.

In G minor:

In A minor:

Figure 12. In G minor, execution of this passage requires lowering the fourth string.

The Allegretto (third movement) poses great technical challenges to double bassists, no matter which key is used. The first section (mm. 1-76) loses some of the familiar harmonics and open strings, but it is otherwise not much affected by the choice of key. However, in the second section (beginning m. 77), the loss of an open D string in the key of G minor is acutely noticeable. Schubert again appears to be writing specifically with the cross-string possibilities and specific tuning of the arpeggione in mind. To play the following passage on one string (as in Figure 13.2) is an unfortunate departure from his intentions.

a. The passage directly transposed to G minor is prohibitively difficult.	b. The way the passage is rendered by Walter and Sankey.
c. The passage as originally composed.
Figure 13. Mm. 77-78 in its various forms.

The section beginning at m. 320 poses a similar problem due to the loss of an open A string.

Figure 14. Note that when the theme shifts one octave higher, the low A in mm. 324 and 325 does not correspond to an open string on the arpeggione. Execution on the arpeggione might have been similar to the solutions suggested in the following figure for performance on the double bass.

Figure 15. Suggestions for fingering on the double bass, and a conjecture as to how this might have been executed on the arpeggione.

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