Already as a young man, Beethoven composed in different ways

Beethoven wrote this quartet at the age of 15. Even though the piano is very present in this excerpt, one has the feeling that each instrument has its equal task.  

Beethoven dedicated this sonata to his employer, the Elector Maximilian Friedrich. The 13-year-old composer had already learned to make a good impression. The pianist Olga Pashchenko plays here on a fortepiano from 1785.   

Maximilian Friedrich's successor, Max Franz, brought a passion for table music from Austria. The wind players of the court orchestra gathered to create "harmony" and accompanied the feast at court. The horns play the melody, the other instruments step back.

At the age of 19, Beethoven received the commission to write a cantata for the death of the Austrian Emperor. Beethoven was happy to do so, since his own employer Max Franz was the Emperor's brother. Unfortunately, the piece could not be performed for unknown reasons. 

The nobility of Bonn loved dance evenings. In 1791, Count von Waldstein presented a "Knight's Ballet" to the high society. Theme: "the main inclination of our forefathers to war, hunting, love and drinking". What nobody was allowed to know: the composer was the young Beethoven.