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Beethoven worked as an organist before he began to go deaf, and pipe organs had wider range than modern pianos (as well as playing louder). Despite this he comp
by mrob 6y ago
Beethoven worked as an organist before he began to go deaf, and pipe organs had wider range than modern pianos (as well as playing louder). Despite this he composed very little music for the pipe organ. This makes me think the increased range in his later compositions was just the natural tendency for composers to increase the complexity of their works as they gain experience.
- corin_ 6y agoWhile an organ has a similar interface (keyboard), it's such a different instrument really, in terms of the noise it makes, and various other elements like the length of noise from a key press. He would have had to actually want the organ as the instrument in the piece for how it is, not just for offering a greater range than an early pianoforte. So it could well be that he would have preferred to use the organ's range earlier but just not wanted that instrument in his music. And that's not necessarily an insult to pipe organs - I think they sound lovely, watching somebody play well can be as enjoyable as almost any other instrument, and I'm a big fan of them in their place. But their place is pretty niche really - there's lots of lovely (but religious) choral works that use one, due to churches historically, and there are nice things written for organ. But it's pretty rare for organ to be the keyboard instrument of choice in orchestral music, chamber music, etc