Beethoven's musical style
The compositions that Beethoven wrote in his formative period can be generally characterized by the composer's efforts to master the predominant classical language of the period. His works from this period can be subdivided into two, based on the composer's residence. First, various juvenalia, written when the adolescent Beethoven was in residence in Bonn and heavily indebted to the works of contemporaries, especially Mozart and his teacher, Christian Gottlob Neefe. These early efforts can be seen in a set of three piano sonatas and piano quartets (WoO 36) that Beethoven wrote before 1792. The Quartets, for instance, are each specifically modelled after three Violin sonatas Mozart published in 1781 – K 296, 379 and 380 – and Beethoven would later draw upon this familiarity in the composition of several of his own Violin Sonatas.
Piano Quartets (Beethoven)
Each quartet is in three movements. They are listed in the order of the original manuscript:In the exposition of the first movement, Beethoven wrote a piano sonata with string accompaniment, but in the development and recapitulation, they play a more individual role. The third movement is in Rondo-sonata form. The theme is introduced by the piano and then taken by the violin. The first episode is accompanied by plucked strings. A second episode is in A minor.