Roll over Beethoven

The name of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a byword for classical music in the 19th century. That being so, the fact that his compositions feature widely in mechanical musical instruments comes as no surprise. Over 150 rolls of the composer’s music were recorded by such famous artists as Eugène d’Albert, Ferruccio Busoni, Frederic Lamond and Alfred Grünfeld for the Welte Mignon reproducing piano alone. To mark the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in mid-December, the Museum of Music Automatons is looking for musical items of interest featuring mechanical pianos and organs, as well as music boxes and other automatons.