Music: Beethoven Man

A hunt was on in New York last week for the kind of chair Beethoven used when he played the piano. It had to have short, strong legs to suit a heavy, stumpy little man like Beethoven, a comfortable back so that the player could sit relaxed and let his shoulder muscles work for him. Nowhere in New York was such a chair to be found. Pianists like Rachmaninoff and Iturbi who depend mostly on their wrists use stools without backs. Paderewski and Hofmann who play more from their shoulders use chairs...

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