Anton Eberl

Sonata in D major op. 20

Eberl's Sonata in D major, Op.20, the sixth of seven sonatas with violin, was composed around 1803 and dedicated to Dorothea Ertmann, the highly regarded pianist who many have suggested as Beethoven's 'Immortal Beloved', and to whom that composer dedicated his Piano Sonata in A major, Op.101. Unlike many of Eberl's lesser contemporaries, in its duration, formal and harmonic novelty, and in the lively relationship between the violin and keyboard, his Op.20 shares much of the musical ambition and quality of Beethoven's works in this genre. 1803 saw the publication of Eberl's Op.20, and Beethoven's set of three sonatas with violin, Op.30, all produced by the Bureau des Arts et d'Industrie firm in Vienna. Beethoven's set were advertised for sale in the Wiener Zeitung in May 1803, days after the premiere of his Op.47 sonata with violin (given by George Bridgetower and Beethoven, but later dedicated to Rudolphe Kreutzer). Eberl's Op.20 was advertised in the Wiener Zeitung six weeks later, in July 1803.