Beethoven died raising his fist in a snowstorm. He had gone through six months of fear, disappointment and illness and pain, but right to the end even his most poignant music ended in hope and joy. His last quartet Opus 135 (here played by Benjamin Bowman, Michael Gurevich, Steven Dann and Franz Ortner) asks ‘Muss es sein?’ (‘Must it be?’) and ends with triumphant acceptance, ‘It must be!’ He told a friend this was a joke. But it could also be his acceptance of life – and death.