To Joy

Stig and Marta are two violinists in the same orchestra. He wants to go to bed with her; she wants something more. Despite his selfishness, she eventually gets it: he falls in love with her. They're about to be married when she reveals that she is pregnant. Stig reacts in the way she knew he would but hoped he wouldn't. He is angry. A child will interfere with his personal life and his career. They quarrel bitterly but end up marrying anyway. They are happy at first, but eventually he takes a mistress - a cold-hearted girl married to an old man who practically plays Pandarus for them. The music of Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn provides the backdrop for this tragic tale of human frailty and capricious fate.