Eyeglass Duo — Finale

Beethoven wrote the Duett mit zwei obligaten Augengläsern, WoO 32, around 1796 for himself on viola and his friend Baron Nikolaus Zmeskall on cello — both wore spectacles, hence the title. He never finished it. An Allegro and a Minuet survive complete, a slow movement breaks off after 23 bars, and there is no finale at all. This is a finale for it, freely adapted from Beethoven's own Six Ecossaises, WoO 83, and scored for the same pair. It's meant to close the duo out as a three-movement work, the shape Beethoven's other chamber music of these years — the Op. 4 trio, the Op. 5 sonatas — would lead a listener to expect. It can also stand on its own.

Instruments: Viola · Cello · Professional level

For duo recitals, or paired with the surviving Allegro and Minuet to complete the set.