‘My colleague means that Professor Kulenkampff isn’t free to tour and perform constantly, or he’d be neglecting his students, the next generation of great German musicians,’ Willy said. ‘We could usefully steer him away from exclusivity for the greater good of German music. He could keep exclusivity, of course, on his private adaptation. Subsequent performers could then make their individual arrangements.’

‘You mean, your Jewish woman friend can play it,’ said Goebbels.

‘If she does, it would be in England,’ Ulli pointed out. ‘At best, she will be spreading the supremacy of German art in the British capital. And at worst, it’s just a piece of music… ’

Goebbels sat down. He stayed still in his chair with his hands over his eyes, thinking hard – in exactly the pose Ulli had taken to adopting. Ulli made a mental note never to do that again.

‘My friends, my friends,’ Goebbels said, putting his hands flat against the table. ‘Your callow youth here has a lot to learn. Dr Schultheiss, you work for a music publisher that is in charge of some of the Reich’s finest composers – and you, of all people, dare to say that a newly rediscovered work by Robert Schumann is “just a piece of music”? Learn this, if you learn nothing else today: nothing is ever “just” a piece of music. And remember, we can close down your entire company at one stroke of a pen, whenever we like.’

*

‘Ulli,’ said Ludwig later, over much-needed schnapps in a Bierkeller a safe distance away, ‘have you gone quite mad?’

‘I apologise, Dr Strecker,’ Ulli said. His hands were still shaking. ‘I had no idea… I was just trying to do the right thing.’

‘We should sack you, and not just on their say-so. You put us all in mortal danger. The whole company! And for what? Why this sudden propensity for playing poker with the devil?’

‘We won, didn’t we?’ Ulli pointed out. At the very least, to ‘win’ meant getting out of the Ministry of Propaganda at all.

‘If we didn’t need you in the office so much… ’ Ludwig kept his voice low; there was no knowing who could overhear them, though it was a noisy place. The team had planned to stay another night in Berlin. Now, by unspoken mutual consent, they would take the next train home.

‘Are you going to dismiss me?’ Ulli asked.

‘We don’t give in to bullies. But Ulli, I advise you to play by the rules. It won’t hurt. One more false step… consider yourself duly warned.’