The Six German Dances (Deutsche Tänze) are very early works by Beethoven and are not of great consequence in his oeuvre. He dedicated them to a Countess Thun, and since there were two with that title and name (the wives of Prince Lichnowsky and Count Razumovsky, respectively), it is not known which of the pair he had in mind.
The Six German Dances are in the following keys: F, D, F, A, D, and G, and their writing is not particularly sophisticated. There is almost no modulation, and one finds little variety in their rigid structure of a pair of eight-measure phrases that are each repeated. The Third and Sixth do feature trios, but there is not much else here to offer diversity. The piano writing is much superior to that of the violin, which is rather rudimentary, typically mirroring the piano's right hand or supplying unimaginative accompaniment.
This set was published in Vienna in 1814. These dances should not be confused with the more substantive Twelve German Dances for orchestra (1795).
