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By Bridget Hutchinson (2026 Media and Communication Fellow)

The 6th of October, 1802, Heiligenstadt. Sitting at a desk and writing feverishly is Ludwig van Beethoven. This time he is writing words instead of music notes; a letter to his brothers. This is not just a letter about trivial matters, but rather a confession that Beethoven is confronted by as he writes out his admission- the sound of his own quill on paper is muffled. He is going deaf. 

So goes the story behind Beethoven’s now famous Heiligenstadt Testament, detailing his struggles with losing the sense that he as a composer and musician most relied upon. A couple hundred of years later, and Australian violist and composer Brett Dean drew inspiration from this devastating letter to write his piece for twelve violas: Testament.

In their upcoming Winter series concert, “Brave New Worlds,” the AYO are bringing this inspired piece, arranged for full orchestra, to audiences in Darwin and Sydney. Prior to rehearsals, Brett Dean sat down for a meeting with the members of the orchestra to discuss and further inspire our young musicians as they are set to explore this work.

Dean began by giving the story behind one of the most notable and unusual techniques used in this piece- the use of bows sans rosin (String players, unclutch those pearls!). In a happy accident, the at the time mild annoyance of receiving a bow without any rosin after a re-hair led to the discovery of the unique sound of horsehair gliding across string with less friction. Dean demonstrated this on his viola to the orchestra, comparing the ghostly sounds of the rosin-less bows he uses at the start of the piece, to the fully rosined bows incorporated later.

“Immediately I was captivated by the sound that it made, this fascinating, wispy, silvery, mysterious sort of sound.”

Having been reading the Heiligenstadt Testament at the time, Dean landed on using this technique in a piece relating to Beethoven’s own heartbreaking letter and experiences.

“[Beethoven losing his hearing] was obviously a moment of great despair. And he writes about it in the Testament.. that this sense [he] possessed in such high quality, that’s the one [he’s] losing.”

The sound of the hazy, whispery bows on the strings seemed the “perfect metaphor” for the sensation of losing one’s hearing. Visually, there’s also the idea that a group of string players with non-rosined bows produces an image of such high energy, but without the same level represented in sound.

The rest of the orchestra begins by matching the strings, with airy playing from the winds and brass, which soon heightens through releases of energy in representing outbursts of anger or frustration from a composer known to be, as described by Dean, “cantankerous.”

The piece takes a turn when it laments on quotations from Beethoven’s Razumovsky quartets, pieces that the musicians themselves may have already played in a different context. Dean explains his reasoning behind this inclusion to the orchestra.

“I chose [them] not only because it summed up the reflective and pretty tragic state of mind that he must have been in, but it’s also the first piece after Heiligenstadt after he left this failed sort of health cure.”

After going more in-depth on the techniques required of the musicians, Dean reflected on the legacy of his piece, and the positive reception it has received. It is a piece not unfamiliar to the Australian classical music landscape, often performed alongside works from Beethoven himself.

If there’s anything for audiences to take out of Testament for their own lives, it is that there is always some way to make light of a dark situation. Although, yes, it was a period of unimaginable struggle for Beethoven, it also marks the beginning of one of the most creative periods in his life, marked by compositions including his legendary Eroica symphony. Fittingly enough, the AYO will be performing this symphony alongside Testament, described by Dean as a combination that “speaks to each other,” bridging together the spirits of two brilliant composers of their day.