Tom Beghin lecture-demonstration Presented by Liszt Academy

By late October 1803 Ludwig van Beethoven received an Erard Frères “piano en forme de clavecin”. This piano from Paris sparked a period of intense pianistic activity and the production of his “Waldstein” Sonata Op. 53, which he finished by early January 1804.

A new replica of Beethoven’s 1803 Erard allows us to relive Beethoven’s technology-related exploration and experimentation. It also invites us to reconnect with an early 19th-century context of French sound and sonority, which were crucially different to those of Viennese instruments.

This lecture-demonstration will feature two pianos, representative of Viennese habit and French novelty: the unique 1803 Beethoven-Erard replica (built especially as part of this research project), along with one of a ca. 1800 Anton Walter.