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Beethoven's Assassins 2023
Beethoven's Assassins is a novel written by Andrew Crumey, submitted by publisher Dedalus Books for the 2023 Booker Prize. The story envisions Beethoven being asked by a masonic lodge to compose an opera titled "The Assassins, or Everything is Allowed." This title reflects the secret belief of the Order of Assassins—“Nothing is true and everything is allowed”—as noted by Beethoven’s associate Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall.
The novel follows several narrative threads across various time periods involving historical figures such as Therese van Beethoven (the wife of Nikolaus Johann van Beethoven), Anton Schindler, J.W.N. Sullivan, and Katherine Mansfield. These storylines shift between humorous and dramatic tones.
One thread is told through the eyes of Therese, Beethoven’s sister-in-law, and carries a comic tone. Another storyline follows a contemporary professor working on an article about “Beethoven and Philosophy.” His research is disrupted by the pandemic, leading him to write instead about his aging parents during lockdown. Once the pandemic ends, he attends a writing retreat at a Scottish country house where he resumes his work on Beethoven.
This same house serves as setting for other episodes in different eras. In 1823, it belongs to a retired colonel linked to the masonic lodge that commissioned the opera. By 1923, the house functions as a psychiatric hospital visited by J.W.N. Sullivan—historically known for his studies of Beethoven and physics. While there, Sullivan explores a woman who claims to remember past lives, uncovering details about the opera.
In Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, Sullivan proposed that art constitutes a form of knowledge distinct from science but complementary to it. The novel expands on this idea. Themes include mesmerism, clairvoyance, and psychic healing, referencing Beethoven’s relationships with individuals like Johann Malfatti and Ludwig Schnorr.
Details
- Publisher
- Dedalus Books
- ISBN
- 9781912868230
- Pages
- 511
