The transition to the sublime minuet that forms the final variation is a series of quiet, greatly prolonged chords that achieve an extraordinary effect. In Solomon's words, "The thirty-third variation is introduced by a Poco adagio that breaks the fugue's agitated momentum and finally takes us to the brink of utter motionlessness, providing a curtain to separate the fugue from the minuet." In describing the ending, commentators are often driven to superlatives. Gerald Abraham calls it "one of the strangest passages Beethoven ever wrote". Kinderman describes the transition as "one of the most magical moments in the work":