In 1822, a letter arrived on Beethoven’s doorstep from St. Petersburg, addressed to “Monsieur Louis van Bethoven à Viennes”. The postal details on the letter required no further explanation to make their way into the hands of the rightful owner, afterall, he was Beethoven. The letter was from a wealthy aristocrat and devoted fan of the great Viennese composer, Nikolaus Galitzin, who also happened to be an amateur cellist. Galitzin had commissioned several quartets from Beethoven, inspiring the composer to return to the string quartet after more than a decade and embark on his late opus numbers in this genre – works that would become unparalleled in quartet literature. 

In Jan Caeyers’ excellent biography of Beethoven, the chapter on the late string quartets is entitled “The Discovery of Heaven”. This is fitting, as these quartets, like Mulisch’s novel, open up a world beyond comprehension. Beethoven’s music expresses the essence of love and pain more powerfully than words ever could. At the height of his creativity, he explores the boundary between thinking and feeling, between matter and spirituality.