When Beethoven’s Quintet in E♭ for Piano and Woodwinds was published as Opus 16 in 1801, an alternate version for Piano Quartet (piano, violin, viola, and cello) was also published with the same opus number. The piano part in both versions is identical.
It is believed that Beethoven’s publisher encouraged him to create a Piano Quartet arrangement of Opus 16 to increase sales. But judging from ArkivMusic and YouTube, the Woodwind Quintet version is much more popular than the Piano Quartet version.
#Beethoven250 Day 80
Quartet in E♭ for Piano and Strings (Opus 16), 1796?
This international assemblage of musicians, all of them on the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, performs in Shanghai.
#Beethoven250 Day 80
Quartet in E♭ for Piano and Strings (Opus 16), 1796?
The Dvořák Piano Quartet, a Czech chamber ensemble, performs at the Hradisko Monastery in Olomouc.