Beethoven: Suite for Mechanical Organ (Clock) WoO 33 Mvt. 3 Allegro - music box
by Ludwig van Beethoven
Organ - MP3 Download

The Five pieces of music  which are now known as the "Suite for the Mechanical Organ" or the "Suite for Mechanical Clock" (WoO33) surfaced after Beethoven's death, bringing with them several very puzzling mysteries. Most challenging of them all was the instrument for which they were written. Piano, strings, harp and most other common instruments were instantly ruled out, building on the perplexing mystery and adding to the frustration. Eventually, Albert Kopfermann set forth a convincing argument that their strange scoring seemed a perfect fit for the Flötenuhr or Spielühr, a mechanical organ or clock. He observed that the notation in No. 1, in F, matched that in Mozart's K. 608 Fantasia (for Flötenuhr), the score of which Beethoven possessed. Other circumstantial factors pointed to the Flötenuhr as the instrument Beethoven designed these pieces for. None of these five pieces was published until the twentieth century, and, not surprisingly, all are rarely heard.

I have arranged this movement for clarinet trio (I have simplified some of the semi quavers) available on this site, and thought it might be interesting to hear it as it should be heard, using the sounds of a music box. So here it is as an mp3 (Sounds produced using Sibelius Software)