Published
Three Equals for four trombones (WoO 30)
The Three Equals for four trombones, WoO 30 (German: Drei Equale für vier Posaunen), are three short equales (or equali) for trombones by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Two of the equals (nos. 1 & 3) were performed at Beethoven’s funeral on 29 March 1827, both by a trombone quartet and also in vocal arrangements by Ignaz Seyfried.
The arrangements of Nos. 1 and 3 by Seyfried are settings for men’s voices of two verses from the ‘Miserere’.[a] These were sung at the funeral, alternating with the trombones. The remaining Equal, no. 2 (again arranged by Seyfried for male voice choir) was sung at the dedication of Beethoven’s gravestone on the first anniversary of his death in March 1828.