Beethoven's Sonatas and Variations for Violin or Cello and Piano extend from the early "Se vuol ballare" Variations (1792) to the last of the five Cello Sonatas (Op.102 No.2). Op.5 seems to be the first set of cello sonatas with a fully written-out piano part (those of the great virtuoso cellist Anton Kraft, published in the 1790s, have a continuo accompaniment). In these, the Handel variations, and the two sets on themes from Mozart's Magic Flute, Beethoven established equality between cellist and pianist. Similarly, in his violin sonatas the two voices have equal importance-as they do in Mozart's mature violin sonatas. It was however more the custom for the violin to have a subsidiary role at the time. The fact that Beethoven's title-pages denote the pianoforte equal partner. There were significant changes in the violin itself, which gave it a stronger voice: a raised bridge, increased string tension, and elongations of neck, fingerboard, and strings correspondingly. A greater dynamic range was the result.

Tracklist:

01 - Cello Sonata, Op. 5, No. 1 /01 - Cello Sonata, Op. 5-1 - 01
01 - Cello Sonata, Op. 5, No. 1 /02 - Cello Sonata, Op. 5-1 - 02

02 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102, No. 2 /01 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102-2 - 01
02 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102, No. 2 /02 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102-2 - 02
02 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102, No. 2 /03 - Cello Sonata, Op. 102-2 - 03

03 - Seven Variations for Cello, WoO 46 /01 - Seven Variations for Cello, WoO46
04 - Twelve Variations for Cello, Op. 66 /02 - Twelve Variations for Cello, Op. 66
05 - Twelve Variations for Cello, WoO45 /Twelve Variations for Cello, WoO 45
06 - Twelve Variations for Violin, WoO 40 /Twelve Variations for Violin, WoO 40

07 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 /01 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 - 01
07 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 /02 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 - 02
07 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 /03 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-1 - 03

08 - Violin Rondo, WoO 41 /04 - Violin Rondo, WoO 41

09 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 /05 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 - 01
09 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 /06 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 - 02
09 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 /07 - Violin Sonata, Op. 12-2 - 03

10 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 /01 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 - 01
10 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 /02 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 - 02
10 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 /03 - Violin Sonata, Op. 23 - 03

11 - Violin Sonata, Op. 30-1 /04 - Violin Sonata, Op. 30-1 - 01
11 - Violin Sonata, Op. 30-1 /05 - Violin Sonata, Op. 30-1 - 02
11 - Violin Sonata, Op. 30-1 /06 - Violin sonata, Op. 30-1 - 03

Equipment used:

Empire 598 TT
ADC XLM MKIII Cartridge
Bottlehead Seduction Tube Phono Preamp
Bottlehead Foreplay Tube Preamp
M-AUDIO SOLO
GoldWave 5.57
ClickRepair if needed