cellist, who also assisted the composer in financial matters. The previous year he had arranged an annuity for Beethoven from a group of sponsors which included Archduke Rudolf of Austria, a pupil of Beethoven. The composer had planned to dedicate his Fourth Piano Concerto to Gleichenstein, but felt that he had to honour the Archduke with the dedication instead, because he had shown particular interest in the Concerto. Beethoven explained to Gleichenstein his regret but announced: "... another work is appearing in which you will be given what is due to your – and our friendship". The sonata was first performed on 5 March 1809 as part of a benefit concert for the cellist Nikolaus Kraft, who performed it with pianist Dorothea von Ertmann, a student of Beethoven. Kraft, known for "technical mastery" and a "clear, rich tone", was the cellist for whom Beethoven had written his Triple Concerto, published in 1804, and Beethoven's first work to use advanced cello techniques. A performance of the cello sonata in 1816 was played by Joseph Linke, the cellist in the Razumovsky Quartet, and Carl Czerny. The pianist wrote in metronome markings, regarded as approved by the composer, and noted that a slight rubato playing would increase interest and expressiveness. Breitkopf & Härtel published the cello sonata first in Leipzig. The first edition had many mistakes, including the opus number misprinted as 59. Beethoven was annoyed, but the mistakes could be corrected only in a later edition. The work appeared the same year also printed by Artaria, entitled "Sonata / per il / Clavicembalo con Violoncello / composta / dal Sig=r / Luigi van Beethoven". A critical edition was published in 1971 by Henle Verlag, edited by Bernard van der Linde, based on the edition of Beethoven's complete works (Sämtliche Werke) by the Beethoven Archive the same year. These editions relied on the earlier prints, the autograph manuscript even if regarded as still a work in progress, as well as the correspondence of Beethoven and his first publisher regarding errors. The sonata is formally the most expansive of Beethoven's cello sonatas, but also the most melodic one, and was successful with audiences from the beginning. A performance takes about 25 minutes. Violinist Mark Kaplan noted: "In general, the writing in op. 69 is thinner than in the early cello sonatas ... greater compositional technique allowed Beethoven the possibility of using fewer notes with