In 1803,
Franz Xaver Kleinheinz arranged this piece for viola and piano. It was published in 1804 as the
Notturno for Viola and Piano in D major, Op. 42. In September 1803 Beethoven wrote to his publisher:
"I have gone through [the arrangements] and made drastic corrections in some passages. So do not dare to state in writing that I have arranged them [...] If you do, you will be telling a lie, seeing that, moreover, I could never have found the time, or even had the patience, to do work of that kind." Nonetheless, Beethoven was incorrectly credited as the author of the arrangement. In addition to straightforward correction of the transcription, Beethoven permitted himself an odd extra bar and occasional new imitative counterpoint. In his book
Classic Music: Expression, Form, and Style, Leonard G. Ratner cites the fourth movement as a representative example of the
polonaise. ==References==