Reconstructing Beethoven’s Last Piano

At the centre of the project will be a historically informed replica of the Conrad Graf fortepiano that Beethoven received in January 1826 during the final year of his life. The original instrument, preserved at the Beethoven-Haus Bonn and no longer playable, will be studied in detail and recreated by the renowned piano builder and Orpheus Instituut associate researcher Chris Maene. Also Katharina Preller, from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, has joined the team as associate researcher to supervise the organological dimension of the project. The replica is scheduled for completion by the beginning of 2027.

Rather than focusing on a single instrument in isolation, the project investigates the coexistence of two pianos in Beethoven’s final home: the Viennese Graf and his earlier English Broadwood grand (1817), which had been Beethoven’s primary composing instrument since May 1818. Standing vis-à-vis, these pianos embodied two distinct piano technologies and sensory worlds—an opposition that is hypothesized as central to understanding Beethoven’s late compositional practice.

The project was initiated by fortepianist and artistic researcher Tom Beghin. Building on his long-standing research into Beethoven’s late works, Beghin’s current focus examines how piano technology, physical touch, and hearing shaped the deaf composer’s creative imagination. Special attention is given to the sound-amplifying devices associated with the instruments: the metal Gehörmaschine for the Broadwood and a wooden resonator for the Graf.

The project aligns closely with Orpheus Instituut’s mission to advance artistic research as a mode of inquiry where practice, theory, and experimentation converge. Once ready, the newly built Graf, along with the existing Broadwood, will serve as a basis for performance-based research and experimental investigation as well as central components for concerts, lectures, seminars, and conferences.

KU Leuven contributes musicological research into Beethoven’s late style and early nineteenth-century piano technology, while the Beethoven-Haus Bonn provides access to the original Graf instrument and archival sources, situating the project within an international heritage context. Following an extended research and performance period in Ghent (2027–31), the Graf replica will permanently move to Bonn, where it will become part of the museum’s living engagement with Beethoven’s legacy.

By reconnecting sound, scholarship, and craftsmanship, this collaboration offers new perspectives on how Beethoven composed, perceived, and imagined music at the very end of his life—bringing his late-period piano works into renewed dialogue with the present.

Images from the team’s recent research visit to Bonn, including documentation and interviews, are available upon request.

Beethoven-Haus Bonn:

Founded in 1889, the Beethoven-Haus Bonn is regarded as the leading international Beethoven centre. Its task is keeping Beethoven's life, work and influence alive. The institution includes the world's most important Beethoven collection, the museum in Beethoven's birthplace with over 100,000 visitors per year, a musicological research department, library and publishing house as well as the Hermann J. Abs Chamber Music Hall. Supported by over 700 friends, sponsors and members from over 20 countries, supported by the federal government, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Rhineland Regional Association and the federal city of Bonn, the Beethoven-Haus fulfils a cultural mission of national and international importance. The violinist Daniel Hope has been President since March 2020.

KU Leuven:

KU Leuven is Europe’s most innovative university (Reuters) and ranks 45nd in the Times Higher Education World University rankings (2024). As Belgium's largest university, KU Leuven welcomes 65,000 students from over 140 countries. Its 8,000 researchers are active in a comprehensive range of disciplines. KU Leuven is a founding member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and has a strong European and international orientation.