‘Beethoven was one sixteenth black,’ the presenter of a classical music programme on the radio announces along with the names of musicians who will be heard playing the String Quartets No. 13 Op. 130 and No 16 Op. 135.


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‘Once there were blacks wanting to be white. Now there are whites wanting to be black.’
‘Beethoven was one sixteenth black,’ the presenter of a classical music programme on the radio announces along with the names of musicians who will be heard playing the String Quartets No. 13 Op. 130 and No 16 Op. 135.
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Nadine Gordimer (1923-2014) was awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature. Her works include Get a Life, No Time Like the Present, and a collection of short stories, Beethoven Was One Sixteenth Black.
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