Ferdinand Ries composed his Cello Sonata in C minor, WoO. 2 in 1799, when he was 17 years old. While the work remained unpublished and does not appear to have been performed in public during the composers lifetime, it is one of the composers earliest surviving compositions, predating his period of study with Beethoven and is the first of four cello sonatas he composed during his life. There are two copies of the manuscript extant, the first is the composers autograph, held by the Berlin State Library, the second is a copy in an unknown hand held by the Royal College of Music.