Anton Eberl

Sonata in F major op. 49

Among Vienna's many composers and pianists of the time, Anton Eberl (1765-1807) was the one considered most worthy of comparison with Beethoven. His Sonata in F major, op. 49, probably the first of seven sonatas with violin, was composed in 1792 and published posthumously in Vienna in 1808. Its model is Mozart's keyboard and violin sonata in F major, K376 (1781), whose expressive world it inhabits. Significantly, however, in terms of its duration, formal and harmonic novelty, and lively relationship between violin and keyboard, Eberl's op. 49 looks forward to Beethoven, sharing much of the musical ambition and quality of Beethoven's first contributions to the genre, namely his op. 12 set of three sonatas with violin written in 1798.