I really think this is one of your best arrangements!!

Do you think 16th notes here are too difficult for players?

I have arranged all of Beethoven's Piano Sonatas for String Quartet. Why?  Because the world needs more Beethoven in it -- especially String Quartets! This Playlist presents performances of all the Arrangements using the Vienna Symphonic Libraries as virtual Instruments.

The Amernet String Quartet will be touring and recording these works over the next two years. Scores and parts will be available for others to play then.
 

The (New) Beethoven String Quartets: 32 Piano Sonatas Re-imagined

The two Piano Sonatas of Opus 49 are short and are considered relatively easy sonatas by some pianists. They were published in 1805 but likely composed several years earlier. Both works are approximately eight minutes in length, and are split into two movements. These sonatas are referred to as the Leichte Sonaten (light sonatas) to be given to friends and students.

Opus 49.1 was possibly written around the time Beethoven composed the Third and Fourth sonatas (between 1795 and 1800), but because it was published in Vienna in 1805, it was assigned the then-current opus and sonata numbers, which classified it alongside works from Beethoven's middle period. 

Beethoven suppressed some early works, either revising them later for publication or discarding them as "not fit." 

 In the case of these two sonatas, it was Caspar van Beethoven, the composer's brother, who decided they were worthy of publication. Against the composer's will, he presented them to a publishing house, thus allowing posterity to hear works that might otherwise have been lost or destroyed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Sonatas_Nos._19_and_20_(Beethoven)

Piano Sonata 19, Op. 49/1 in G Minor

The Piano Sonata No. 1 in F minor, Op. 2, No. 1, was written in 1795 (age 25) and dedicated to Joseph Haydn. A typical performance of the entire work lasts about 17–20 minutes.

Piano Sonata 1, Op. 2/1 in F Minor

The Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2, No. 3, was composed in 1796, and dedicated to Joseph Haydn (like all of the sonatas of Opus 2) and is often referred to as Beethoven's first virtuosic piano sonata. It is both the weightiest and longest of the three Opus 2 sonatas. 

It has 4 movements: 
1. Allegro con brio, common time
2. Adagio, 2/4 in E major
3. Scherzo: Allegro, 3/4
4. Allegro assai, 6/8

Piano Sonata 3, Op. 2/3 in C Major

The Piano Sonata No. 4, in E-flat major, Op. 7, sometimes nicknamed the "Grand Sonata," is dedicated to his student Babette, the Countess Keglevics. The sonata was composed in Bratislava, in 1796, in November, during his visit of Keglevich Palace in Bratislava. It has 4 movements:

1. Allegro molto e con brio, 6/8
2. Largo, con gran espressione, 3/4 in C major
3. Allegro, 3/4; Trio in E-flat minor
4. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso, 2/4

Piano Sonata 4, Op. 7 in E-flat Major

The Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10, No. 1, was composed 1798 (age 28). It is dedicated to Anna Margarete von Browne, the wife of one of Beethoven's patrons, a Russian diplomat in Vienna. All 3 sonatas of his Opus 10 are dedicated to Countess von Browne.  This Sonata has 3 movements:

1. Allegro molto e con brio, in C minor
2. Adagio molto, in A flat major
3. Finale: Prestissimo, in C minor

Piano Sonata 5, Op. 10/1 in C Minor

The Piano Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 2, No. 2, was published in 1796 and dedicated to Joseph Haydn.

Tovey wrote, "The second sonata is flawless in execution and entirely beyond the range of Haydn and Mozart in harmonic and dramatic thought, except in the Finale."

It has four movements:

1. Allegro vivace
2. Largo appassionato, D major
3. Scherzo: Allegretto, A major
4. Rondo: Grazioso, A major

Piano Sonata 2, Op 2/2 in A Major

For The Future:  IV. The Hidden Siinger

For The Future: I. The Real Work, II. For The Future

for Symphonic Band

Commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association and here performed by the U.S. Marine Band ("The President's Own") under the direction of Capt. Michelle Rakers at the ABA National Conference in Norfolk, VA in March 2011.

Performance materials available from the composer.

Piano Sonata 19, Op. 49/1 in G Minor

Jeffery L Briggs

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