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The Sonata in G minor Op. 39 was Eberl’s last composition, commissioned by the Grand Duchess of Weimar, Maria Paulowne when he was in Weimar on his concert tour of 1806. It was published in Vienna shortly after his death, and later reissued by Breitkopf & Härtel. A. Duane White described it as “his most outstanding work for piano solo”, and “a significant forerunner of the Romantic era” (New Grove). Its formal innovations include a slow movement in the remote key of E major (with hints of Field and Chopin as well as Beethoven’s Waldstein sonata), which also makes a “cyclic” return in the course of the finale, and the fact that all three movements are unified by the use of a single motive (a rising sixth and falling second) first heard in the opening bars. In terms of pianism the work makes higher demands than many of his previous compositions (including his trade-mark crossing of hands). The AMZ in reviewing the publication claimed that “it belongs among the most affective, most brilliant, and most difficult works of this composer, and will guarantee great and varied enjoyment to good pianists”
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