Thomas Broadwood, the most productive piano manufacturer of that time in London, gave Beethoven a piano forte in 1817. For this purpose he had invited five of the most important London musicians to his shop to choose a suitable instrument for the cherished master. Above the company label on the front edge of the pin block the following text can be read: "Hoc Instrumentum est Thomae Broadwood (Londrini) donum propter ingenium illustrissime Beethoven." [This instrument is a proper gift from Thomas Broadwood of London to the great Beethoven.] Next to it Friedrich Kalbrenner, Ferdinand Ries, Johann Baptist Cramer, Jacques-Godefroi Ferrari and Charles Knyvett signed the instrument. Many years later the Vienna music publisher Carl Anton Spina gave the piano to Franz Liszt who then dedicated it to the Hungarian National Museum. The displayed instrument, constructed in the same way, is owned by the Beethoven-Haus.
译文：托马斯·布罗德伍德(ThomasBroadwood)是其时伦敦更具消费力的钢琴造造商，他在1817年为贝多芬供给了一台钢琴。为此，他邀请了伦敦最重要的五位音乐家到他的店里为那位珍爱的巨匠挑选适宜的乐器。在印有公司标签的正面的大头针块下面的文字能够阅读："Hoc Instrumentum est Thomae Broadwood (Londrini) donum propter ingenium illustrissime Beethoven."（那件乐器是伦敦的托马斯·布罗德伍德送给伟大的贝多芬的一份厚礼。）旁边是Friedrich Kalbrenner, Ferdinand Ries, Johann Baptist Cramer, Jacques-Godefroi Ferrari and Charles Knyvett的结合签名。许多年后，维也纳音乐出书商卡尔·安放·斯皮纳将钢琴送给弗兰兹·李斯特，李斯特随后将钢琴献给匈牙利国度博物馆。那件被展出的乐器，以同样的体例打造出来，存于贝多芬故宅中。
Broadwood notified Beethoven in early January 1818 that the instrument had been dispatched on December 27th. Beethoven immediately contacted Count Moritz Lichnowsky and asked him to speak with the finance minister on his behalf so that he would be allowed to obtain the instrument free of custom fees and other charges. As can be seen from the article published in the Vienna newspaper on June 8th Beethoven's wish was granted: "Mister Ludwig van Beethoven, cherished not only in Austria but also abroad for his great musical genius, received a rare and precious piano forte from a London admirer as a gift, delivered to Vienna free of charge. With particular generosity the court chamber of the dual monarchy dispensed with custom fees that are usually applied to foreign musical instruments, and hence proved in a way pleasant for the arts that one strives to encourage such seldom merits of genius by humane appreciation."Beethoven effusively thanked the authorities for the "honourable gift": "I will regard it as an altar on which I will offer to god Apollo my most beautiful sacrifices of spirit."
译文：1818年1月初，布罗德伍德通知贝多芬，该乐器已于12月27日发出。贝多芬立即与莫里茨·利奇诺夫斯基伯爵获得联络，并请伯爵代表他与财务部长扳谈，以便允许他获得免收关税和其他费用的东西。从6月8日维也纳报纸登载的那篇文章中能够看出，贝多芬的希望得到了称心：“路德维希·范·贝多芬先生不只在奥天时备受注目，而且因他伟大的才气而在国外遭到珍爱，他得到了一位伦敦崇敬者送给他的珍贵钢琴，免费送到维也纳。出格大方的是，二元造君主立宪造的法庭免去了既往按老例收取外国乐器的费用，令人欣慰是，那证了然人们正筹算通过人道主义角度的赏识来鼓舞那种罕见的天才。“贝多芬热情弥漫地感激当局的“荣耀礼品”：“我将把它当做祭坛，我将把我最斑斓的精神祭品献给阿波罗神。”