Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His career has conventionally been divided into early, middle, and late periods. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, he began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression.

Beethoven was born in Bonn. His musical talent was obvious at an early age. He was initially harshly and intensively taught by his father, Johann van Beethoven. Beethoven was later taught by the composer and conductor Christian Gottlob Neefe, under whose tutelage he published his first work, a set of keyboard variations, in 1783. He found relief from a dysfunctional home life with the family of Helene von Breuning, whose children he loved, befriended, and taught piano. At age 21, he moved to Vienna, which subsequently became his base, and studied composition with Haydn. Beethoven then gained a reputation as a virtuoso pianist, and was soon patronised by Karl Alois, Prince Lichnowsky for compositions, which resulted in his three Opus 1 piano trios (the earliest works to which he accorded an opus number) in 1795.

Beethoven's Drei Equali were works written for equal, or similar, instruments; in the eighteenth century they were almost always used for funeral services and usually employed a quartet of Trombones. The most famous of these were the three Beethoven wrote for the Linz Cathedral in Austria on All Soul’s Day 1812. Two of these were adapted later for male voices and were sung at Beethoven’s funeral.

These pieces are some of the most famous works for Trombones, no doubt due to the fact that they were composed by Beethoven. They were commissioned by Franz Xaver Glöggl, Kappelmeister of the city of Linz, while Beethoven was visiting his brother. According to later accounts by Glöggl’s son, although his father had a complete collection of Trombones (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass or Quart) the three Equali were performed by a traditional Quartet of Alto, Tenor and Bass Trombones.

This interpretation offers a compromise: the original score and parts are given exactly as written in the complete works, adapted for Viola, and all four parts are written in Alto Clef.

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethoven).
Although originally written for Piano, I created this Interpretation of "Drei Equali" (WoO 30) for Viola Quartet.