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 A minor, Op. 10 No. 1, probably the third of his seven sonatas with violin, was published with an optional basse – doubtless intended to be a part for a cellist – which permitted performance as a piano trio.

In its duration, formal and harmonic novelty, and in the lively relationship between violin and keyboard, this A minor sonata shar...