Beethoven's Conrad Graf piano
(c) Beethoven Haus Bonn, David Ertl
One of the special projects of the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn for the Beethoven anniversary year 2027, which commemorates the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death, is the reconstruction of Beethoven’s last fortepiano.
The original instrument is one of the outstanding objects in the museum’s permanent exhibition. « It has long been our desire to restore the original form of the instrument and revive the sound of this special instrument, which unfortunately can no longer be played. We are very pleased that a replica is now being created on a scientific basis in cooperation with Tom Beghin from Belgian Orpheus Instituut and the Catholic University of Leuven (KU Leuven). Once completed, the reconstructed instrument will be used for concert and research purposes and will find its permanent home in the Beethoven-Haus, » says Malte Boecker, director of the Beethoven-Haus.
Almost 200 years ago, on January 24, 1826, Beethoven received the hammer piano made by Conrad Graf, the accomplished Viennese piano maker, as a loan instrument. After Beethoven’s death in 1827, the piano was returned to Graf, who then marked it with a nameplate reading “L. van Beethofen.” In 1889, the newly founded Beethoven House Association (Verein Beethoven-Haus) in Bonn acquired the instrument as one of the first objects for its collection.
The piano has a range of 6.5 octaves (CC to f4) and a Viennese action; from D onwards, it has four strings per key (instead of the three strings per key that are still common today). In keeping with the spirit of the times, new legs were made for the instrument in the mid-19th century, and the grand piano was given a new lyre with only three pedals (shift, piano, damping). The Janissary slide, which had probably been present before and could be used to create special sound effects, was removed. In the 1960s, the instrument was once again overhauled using the hardly reversible methods common at the time. Today, the grand piano is no longer playable, and all experts advise against further restoration.
Instead, it is now to be reconstructed in its original form from Beethoven’s time and its background regarding piano manufacturing should be researched. Not only does the restoration of the original design plays a role here, but the question of the effects of the four-string system with a string tension of approx. 7600 kg on the piano body is also being investigated. Graf had only made a few attempts with this stringing and eventually abandoned it.
The piano builder Chris Maene in Ruiselede (Belgium) was commissioned with the reconstruction. Maene has extensive experience with historical grand pianos from Beethoven’s time and has already carried out two similar projects with Tom Beghin to reconstruct the Erard and Broadwood grand pianos that belonged to Beethoven.
The replica is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 so that it can be used for concert tours, research, and lectures in the anniversary year 2027 and beyond. There are also plans to incorporate it into the Beethoven-Haus’s anniversary celebrations in 2027. In about five years, the instrument will finally find its permanent home in the museum’s music room.
