Beethoven wrote his Thirteenth String Quartet during a period when he was plagued by family problems and poor health. After the premiere, he replaced the final movement, the Grosse Fuge, with a new finale. This shifted the emotional weight of the quartet onto the Cavatina, a work that brought Beethoven to tears every time he read his own notes. He could no longer listen to it…

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.