In the beginning was the 4. In the beginning of our lives as musicians, at any rate. Have you ever had occasion to think about number symbolism? I must admit that I wasn’t much interested in it myself. But for thirty years I lived in such unusual circumstances that I did sometimes think about the matter and associate in my mind the various forms that what I will call ‘Quaternity’ can take: The four elements, the four points of the compass, the four evangelists, and so on. But above all that, the supreme mystery: ‘The string quartet’ 30 BEETHOVEN • THE COMPLETE STRING QUARTETS
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