Celebrated and long familiar is the sounding symbol for Bach—the four tones B flat, A, C, B natural—which in German musical terminology spell out the four letters of the composer’s name. Unfamiliar is the corresponding symbol for Beethoven. From the five sounding letters B–E–E–H–E—whereby B is expressed as B flat and H as B natural—we hear at once a pregnant motive that conveys the mysterious quality of the piece. The notation of this motive, with the inclusion of apparently superfluous natural signs before the notes on E, convey an obsessive atmosphere. Where are we led by this musical idea? An ominous, descending countermelody is soon combined with the Beethoven motive before we hear a fleeting lyrical passage, a utopian glimpse before the fateful idée fixe resumes. Thereafter the falling countermelody returns and breaks through with tragic force: springing from rapid scale passages, glissandi sweep across the entire keyboard, while the main motive thunders in chords in the deepest register of the bass. Yet at the conclusion the original motive returns. What lurks behind this deceptively simple utterance, which stands as an emblem for the composer?