__NOTOC__ This list includes fictional representations of real (named) composers and musicians, and of fictional characters under other names that are generally agreed to be based on a specific composer, or sometimes a composite of several.

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Esther Meynell Esther Hallam Meynell née Moorhouse (1878 – 4 February 1955) was an English writer. Biography Meynell was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire. Her father was the Yorkshire Quaker Samuel Moorhouse. The family moved to Sussex when Esther wa ...

: '' The Little Chronicle of Magdalena Bach'' (1925)A. H. Weiler
"Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach (1968)"
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', April 7, 1969

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...

Rebecca West Dame Cicily Isabel Fairfield (21 December 1892 – 15 March 1983), known as Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, was a British author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. An author who wrote in many genres, West reviewed books ...

: ''Harriet Hume'' (1929) (The title character based on Harriet Cohen)Corymbus: ''The Music That Time Forgot''
/ref>

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

* Jessica Duchan: ''Immortal'' (2020) *

Sanford Friedman Sanford Friedman (June 11, 1928 – April 20, 2010) was an American novelist. He was gay and his books often featured LGBT themes. Friedman's ''Totempole'' (1965) features an army love affair between its protagonist and a North Korean doctor ...

: ''Conversations with Beethoven'' (1980s, published in 2014)Freya Parr.
Ten of the best (and worst) novels about composers
, ''BBC Music Magazine'', 26 February 2019 * Paul Griffiths: ''Mr Beethoven'' (2020) * Esther Meynell: ''Grave Fairytale'' (1931) (as Melchior) *

Elizabeth Sara Sheppard Elizabeth Sara Sheppard (1830–1862) was a 19th-century British novelist. Life Sheppard was born in 1830 in Blackheath, London. Her father, of Jewish descent on his mother's side, was a clergyman of the Church of England. He died soon after Sh ...

: ''Rumour: A Novel'' (1858) (as Rodomant) *

John Suchet John Aleck Suchet ( ; born 29 March 1944) is an English author, television news journalist, and presenter of classical music on Classic FM. Suchet has two brothers, one of whom is the actor Sir David Suchet. Early life Suchet was born in Lon ...

: ''The Last Master'' (1997–99) (fictional biography in three volumes)

William Sterndale Bennett Sir William Sterndale Bennett (13 April 18161 February 1875) was an English composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. At the age of ten Bennett was admitted to the London Royal Academy of Music (RAM), where he remained for ten years. B ...

* Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: '' Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Starwood Burney)

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) * Jude Morgan: ''Symphony'' (2006) * Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Florimond Anastasa)

Lord Berners Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson, 14th Baron Berners (18 September 188319 April 1950), also known as Gerald Tyrwhitt, was a British composer, novelist, painter, and aesthete. He was also known as Lord Berners. Biography Early life and education ...

Nancy Mitford Nancy Freeman-Mitford (28 November 1904 – 30 June 1973), known as Nancy Mitford, was an English novelist, biographer, and journalist. The eldest of the Mitford sisters, she was regarded as one of the "bright young things" on the London s ...

: ''

The Pursuit of Love ''The Pursuit of Love'' is a novel by Nancy Mitford, first published in 1945. It is the first in a trilogy about an upper-class English family in the interwar period focusing on the romantic life of Linda Radlett, as narrated by her cousin, Fa ...

'' (1945) (as Lord Merlin) *

Osbert Sitwell Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE (6 December 1892 – 4 May 1969) was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and li ...

: 'The Love Bird' from ''Dumb Animal and Other Stories'' (1930) (as Sir Robert Mainwroth)

Hildegard of Bingen Hildegard of Bingen (german: Hildegard von Bingen; la, Hildegardis Bingensis; 17 September 1179), also known as Saint Hildegard and the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher ...

* Mary Sharratt: ''Illuminations'' (2012)

Mario Braggiotti Mario Braggiotti (November 29, 1905 – May 18, 1996) was a United States pianist, composer and raconteur. His career was launched by George Gershwin, who became his friend and mentor. Early history Braggiotti was born in Florence, Italy; his fath ...

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

: ''Tender is The Night'' (1934) (as Tommy Barban)

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

: ''Amsterdam'' (1998) (Clive Linley, correspondencies with Britten) Thomas Busby * George Borrow: ''Lavengro'' (1851) (as editor of the "Universal Review")

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

: ''Lucrezia Floriani'' (1846) * Nell Stevens: ''Briefly, a Delicious Life'' (2022)

Harriet Cohen Harriet(t) may refer to: * Harriet (name), a female name ''(includes list of people with the name)'' Places * Harriet, Queensland, rural locality in Australia * Harriet, Arkansas, unincorporated community in the United States * Harriett, Texas, ...

William Gerhardie William Alexander Gerhardie OBE FRSL (21 November 1895 – 15 July 1977) was an Anglo-Russian novelist and playwright. His first novel, ''Futility'' (1922), drew on his experiences of fighting the Bolsheviks in pre-revolutionary Russia. Life a ...

: ''Pending Heaven'' (1930) (as Helen Sapphire) *

D H Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

: ''Kangeroo'' (1923) (as Harriet)Fry, Helen. ''Music & men : the life and loves of Harriet Cohen'' (2008) *

: ''Harriet Hume'' (1929) Michael Costa * Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as St Michel)

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

Charles Brackett Charles William Brackett (November 26, 1892 – March 9, 1969) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on sixteen films. Life and career Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, the son of ...

: ''Entirely Surrounded'' (1934) (as Nick Farraday) *

Beverley Nichols John Beverley Nichols (9 September 1898 – 15 September 1983) was an English writer, playwright and public speaker. He wrote more than 60 books and plays. Career Between his first book, the novel, ''Prelude'' (1920) and his last, a book of po ...

: ''Death to Slow Music'' (as Nigel Fleet) *

David Pownall David Pownall FRSL (19 May 1938 – 21 November 2022) was a British playwright and prolific radio dramatist performed internationally, and novelist translated into several languages. Life and career David Pownall was born in Liverpool on 19 May ...

: ''Facade'' (radio play, 2002)

Christian Darnton Philip Christian Darnton (30 October 1905 – 14 April 1981), also known as Baron von Schunck, was a British composer and writer. Early life and family He was born in Leeds as Philip Christian von Schunck, the son of Mary Gertrude Illingworth (187 ...

* Nigel Balchin: '' Darkness Falls From the Air'' (1942) (as the poet Stephen Ryle)

Claude Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

Pierre La Mure Pierre La Mure (15 June 1909 – 28 December 1976) was a French author. La Mure was born in Nice, in department Alpes-Maritimes. He published the 1950 novel ''Moulin Rouge (book), Moulin Rouge'' about the life of the French artist Henri de Toulou ...

: ''Clair de lune'' (1962) *

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

: ''

À la recherche du temps perdu ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

'' (1913-27) (aspects of Vinteuil, see also Franck and Saint-Saëns)

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

* C F Keary: ''The Journalist'' (1898) (as Sophus Jonsen)Amos, William.
The Originals: Who's Really Who in Fiction
' (1990) Edward J Dent *

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

: ''

Where Angels Fear to Tread ''Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1905) is a novel by E. M. Forster. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's ''An Essay on Criticism'': "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread". The BBC adapted the novel for television in 1966 as ...

'' (1905) (as Philip Herriton) Arnold Dolmetsch * George Moore: ''Evelyn Innes'' (1898) (as the father of Evelyn)

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Keith Alldritt Keith Alldritt is a contemporary British novelist, biographer and critic. Biography Aldritt was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He lives and works in the West Midlands, the setting for his novels. ...

: ''Elgar on the Journey to Hanley: A Novel'' (1979) *

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) *

James Hamilton-Paterson James Hamilton-Paterson (born 6 November 1941) is a poet and novelist. He is one of the most reclusive of British literary exiles, dividing his time between Austria, Italy and the Philippines. Early life James Hamilton-Paterson was born on 6 No ...

: ''Gerontius'' (1989) * David Pownall: ''Elgar’s Rondo'' (1993)''The Composer Plays'', Oberon (1996)
/ref> * David Pownall: ''Elgar’s Third'' (1994)

César Franck César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium. He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was p ...

* Marcel Proust: ''À la recherche du temps perdu'' (1913-27) (aspects of Vinteuil, see also Debussy and Saint-Saëns)

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) * Mitchell James Kaplan. ''Rhapsody'' (2021)''Rhapsody'', by Mitchell James Kaplan
/ref> * George Kaufman and

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

: '' Merrily We Roll Along'' (1934) (as Sam Frankl)

Carlo Gesualdo Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa ( – 8 September 1613) was Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza. As a composer he is known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chromatic language not heard again until the late 19th century ...

* David Pownall: ''Music to Murder By'' (1976)

Jimmy Glover James Mackey Glover (18 June 1861 – 8 September 1931), originally James Mackey, and known as Jimmy Glover, was an Irish composer, conductor, music critic, and journalist, most notable as Director of Music and conductor at the Theatre Royal, Drur ...

* George Moore: ''A Mummer's Wife'' (1885) (as Montgomery)

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

* Christopher Miller: ''Sudden Noises from Inanimate Objects: A Novel in Liner Notes'' (2004) Cecil Gray * H.D.: ''Bid Me to Live'' (1960) (as Vane) *

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the prominent Huxley ...

: '' Antic Hay'' (1923) (as the critic Mercaptan) * D.H.Lawrence: ''

Aaron's Rod Aaron's rod refers to any of the walking sticks carried by Moses's brother, Aaron, in the Torah. The Bible tells how, along with Moses's rod, Aaron's rod was endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt that preceded the Exodus. T ...

'' (1922) (as Cyril Scott)M.C. Rintoul:
Dictionary of Real People and Places in Fiction
' (2014) * D.H.Lawrence: ''Kangaroo'' (1923) (as James Sharpe) *

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

: ''

Casanova's Chinese Restaurant ''Casanova's Chinese Restaurant'' is a novel by Anthony Powell (). It forms the fifth volume of the twelve-volume sequence ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', and was originally published in 1960. Many of the events of the novel were included in t ...

'' (Maclintick and Gossege as a composite)

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

: ''All the Angels: Handel and the First Messiah'' (2015)

Josef Matthias Hauer Josef Matthias Hauer (March 19, 1883 – September 22, 1959) was an Austrian composer and music theorist. He is best known for developing, independent of and a year or two before Arnold Schoenberg, a method for composing with all 12 notes of th ...

Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...

: ''

The Glass Bead Game ''The Glass Bead Game'' (german: link=no, Das Glasperlenspiel, ) is the last full-length novel by the German author Hermann Hesse. It was begun in 1931 in Switzerland, where it was published in 1943 after being rejected for publication in Germa ...

'' (1943) (as model for Joculator Basiliensis ("the player from Basel"). * ': ''Sonnenmelodie'' (1923) *

Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and Poetry, poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''Th ...

: ' (1924) (as Matthias Fischboeck) Charles Edward Horsley * Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Charles Auchester)

John Pyke Hullah John Pyke Hullah (27 June 1812 – 21 February 1884) was an English composer and teacher of music, whose promotion of vocal training is associated with the singing-class movement. Life and career Hullah was born at Worcester. He was a pupil ...

* Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Lenhart Davy) Halfdan Jebe * C F Keary: ''The Journalist'' (1898) (as Hauch)

Maurice Jacobson Maurice Jacobson OBE (1 January 1896 – 2 February 1976) was an English pianist, composer, music publisher and music festival judge. He was also director and later chairman of the music publishing firm J. Curwen & Sons. Jacobson was born in L ...

Stevie Smith Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith (20 September 1902 – 7 March 1971), was an English poet and novelist. She won the Cholmondeley Award and was awarded the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. A play, '' Stevie'' by Hugh Whitemore, bas ...

: ''Novel on Yellow Paper'' (1936) (as Herman)

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...

* Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Charles Auchester)

Aram Khachaturian Aram Ilyich Khachaturian (; rus, Арам Ильич Хачатурян, , ɐˈram ɨˈlʲjitɕ xətɕɪtʊˈrʲan, Ru-Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.ogg; hy, Արամ Խաչատրյան, ''Aram Xačʿatryan''; 1 May 1978) was a Soviet and Armenian ...

: ''Master Class'' (1982)

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

: ''

'' (as Moreland) * David Pownall: ''Facade'' (radio play, 2002)

Henry Lawes Henry Lawes (1596 – 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century. He was elder brother of fellow composer William Lawes. Life Henry Lawes (baptised 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662),Ian Spink, "Lawes, Henry," ''Grove Musi ...

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

: '' Wife to Mr Milton'' (1942)

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

* Daniel Stern: ''Nélida'' (1846) * Susanne Dunlap: ''Liszt's Kiss'' (2007) *

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...

: ''

Daniel Deronda ''Daniel Deronda'' is a novel written by Mary Ann Evans under the pen name of George Eliot, first published in eight parts (books) February to September 1876. It was the last novel she completed and the only one set in the Victorian society ...

'' (1876) (aspects of Julius Klesmer, see also Rubenstein)

Elisabeth Lutyens Agnes Elisabeth Lutyens, CBE (9 July 190614 April 1983) was an English composer. Early life and education Elisabeth Lutyens was born in London on 9 July 1906. She was one of the five children of Lady Emily Bulwer-Lytton (1874–1964), a me ...

* Henry Reed: ''The Private Life of Hilda Tablet'' (1954) (as Tablet)

Alma Mahler Alma Maria Mahler Gropius Werfel (born Alma Margaretha Maria Schindler; 31 August 1879 – 11 December 1964) was an Austrian composer, author, editor, and socialite. At 15, she was mentored by Max Burckhard. Musically active from her early yea ...

* Max Phillips: ''The Artist’s Wife'' (2001) * Mary Sharratt: ''Ecstasy'' (2018)

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ''The Dresser'' (for w ...

: ''Mahler’s Conversion'' (2001) *

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...

: ''

Death in Venice ''Death in Venice ''(German: ''Der Tod in Venedig'') is a novella by German author Thomas Mann, published in 1912. It presents an ennobled writer who visits Venice and is liberated, uplifted, and then increasingly obsessed by the sight of a Poli ...

'' (aspects of the author Aschenbach) *

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

: ''The Return of Gustav Mahler'' (1915), semi-fictional essay

Fanny Mendelssohn Fanny Mendelssohn (14 November 1805 – 14 May 1847) was a German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era who was also known as Fanny (Cäcilie) Mendelssohn Bartholdy and, after her marriage, Fanny Hensel (as well as Fanny Mendelssohn He ...

Peter Härtling Peter Härtling (; 13 November 1933 – 10 July 2017) was a German writer, poet, publisher and journalist. He received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his major contribution to German literature. Biography Härtling wa ...

: ''Liebste Fenchel'' (2011) * Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Maria Cerinthea)

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) * Pierre La Mure: ''Beyond Desire'' (1955) * Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Seraphael)Weliver, Phyllis. ''The Musical Crowd in English Fiction'' (2006)

Noel Mewton-Wood Noel Mewton-Wood (20 November 19225 December 1953) was an Australian-born concert pianist who achieved international fame on the basis of many distinguished concerto recordings during his short life. Life and career Born in Melbourne, he studied ...

* Sonia Orchard: ''The Virtuosso'' (2009)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) * Stephanie Cowell: ''Marrying Mozart'' (2004) *

Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

: '' Mozart and Salieri'' (1830) *

Peter Shaffer Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films. Early life Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...

: ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

'' (1979)

Hubert Parry Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet (27 February 18487 October 1918) was an English composer, teacher and historian of music. Born in Richmond Hill in Bournemouth, Parry's first major works appeared in 1880. As a composer he is b ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

: ''Love Among the Artists'' (1881) (as Owen Jack)

Helen Perkin Helen Craddock Perkin (25 February 1909 – 19 October 1996) was a pianist and composer, best known today for her association with John Ireland (composer), John Ireland during the 1920s and 1930s.Richards, Fiona. 'Helen Perkin: Pianist, Composer a ...

* Carl Ginsburg: ''Medicine Journeys: Ten Stories'' (Center Press, 1983) (as Mrs Todd Ashby)'Helen Adie', at Gurdjieff Club
/ref>

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991) * David Pownall: ''Master Class'' (1982)

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

: ''The Lion's Share'' (1916) {as Roussel)

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards f ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991)

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sai ...

* George Eliot: ''Daniel Deronda'' (1876) (aspects of Julius Klesmer, see also Liszt)

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

* Marcel Proust: ''À la recherche du temps perdu'' (1913-27) (aspects of Vinteuil, see also Debussy and Franck)

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

* Alexander Pushkin: ''Mozart and Salieri'' (1830) * Peter Shaffer: ''Amadeus'' (1979) Godfrey Sampson * Edmund Crispen: '' Holy Disorders'' (1945) (as Geoffrey Vintner)

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (, ; ; 17 May 18661 July 1925), who signed his name Erik Satie after 1884, was a French composer and pianist. He was the son of a French father and a British mother. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, but was an und ...

* Caitlin Horrocks: ''Vexations'' (2019)

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

* Thomas Mann: '' Doctor Faustus'' (1947) (aspects of Adrian Leverkühn, see also Wolf)

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

* Peter Härtling: ''Schubert: A Novel'' (1995) *

Gaëlle Josse Gaelle Josse (born 1960) is a French poet and novelist. She has written four novels till date. She has won a number of literary prizes and her work has been translated into several languages. Works * ''Les heures silencieuses'' (''The Quiet Hou ...

: ''

Un été à quatre mains ''Un été à quatre mains'' is a French historical fiction novel by Gaëlle Josse about Franz Schubert. The novel gives a fictionalized account of the time Schubert spent at Zseliz with the Esterházy family during the summer of 1828, and of h ...

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

Janice Galloway Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti. Biography She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated w ...

: ''Clara'' (2004) * J. D. Landis: ''Longing'' (2000)

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

* Jessica Duchen: ''Ghost Variations'' (2016) * Peter Härtling: ''Schumanns Schatten'' (1996)

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' Art ...

: '' The Noise of Time'' (2016) * David Pownall: ''Master Class'' (1982) *

Sarah Quigley Sarah Quigley is a New Zealand-born writer. Background Sarah Quigley was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, on the 1 October 1967. She has an MA Hons from the University of Canterbury and a DPhil in English Literature from the University of ...

: The Conductor (2012) * William T. Vollmann: ''

Europe Central ''Europe Central'' (2005) is a novel by William T. Vollmann that won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction.

'' (2005)

Jean Sibelius Jean Sibelius ( ; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and 20th-century classical music, early-modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest com ...

* Simon Boswell: ''The Seven Symphonies: A Finnish Murder Mystery'' (2005) * Caroline J Sinclair: ''My Music, My Drinking & Me'' (2015) (fictionalised memoir)

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended t ...

E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. Early life E.F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshir ...

: ''Dodo'' (1893) (as Edith Stains) Kaikhosru Sorabji * Christopher Miller: ''Sudden Noises from Inanimate Objects: A Novel in Liner Notes'' (2004) Barbara Strozzi *

Russell Hoban Russell Conwell Hoban (February 4, 1925 – December 13, 2011) was an American expatriate writer. His works span many genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mainstream fiction, magical realism, poetry, and children's books. He lived in ...

. ''My Tango with Barbara Strozzi'' (2007) ((as modern day Bertha Strunk)

Kay Swift Katharine Faulkner "Kay" Swift (April 19, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American composer of popular and classical music, the first woman to score a hit musical completely. Written in 1930, the Broadway musical '' Fine and Dandy'' includes ...

* Mitchell James Kaplan. ''Rhapsody'' (2021)

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

* Barbara Quick: ''Vivaldi's Virgins'' (2007)

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

: ''Count Omega'' (1941) (as Emmanuel Smith) * David Pownall: ''Facade'' (radio play, 2002)

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

: ''Mozart & the Wolf Gang'' (1991)

Peter Warlock Philip Arnold Heseltine (30 October 189417 December 1930), known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock, was a British composer and music critic. The Warlock name, which reflects Heseltine's interest in occultism, occult practices, was used for all his ...

Frank Baker John Franklin "Home Run" Baker (March 13, 1886 – June 28, 1963) was an American professional baseball player. A third baseman, Baker played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1922 for the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees. Althoug ...

: ''The Birds'' (1936) (as Paul Weaver) *

Ralph Bates Ralph Bates (12 February 1940 – 27 March 1991) was an English film and television actor, known for his role in the British sitcom '' Dear John'' and the original ''Poldark''. Biography Bates was born in Bristol, England. His parents were bo ...

: ''Dead End of the Sky'' (1937) (as Robert Durand) *

Robertson Davies William Robertson Davies (28 August 1913 – 2 December 1995) was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best known and most popular authors and one of its most distinguished " men of letters" ...

: '' A Mixture of Frailties'' (1958) (as Giles Revelstoke)Allis, Michael. 'From Musicology to Novel: Reassessing Robertson Davies's Literary Representation of Peter Warlock', in ''University of Toronto Quarterly'' (Winter 2019) * Aldous Huxley: ''Antic Hay'' (1923) (as Coleman)Smith, Barry. ''Peter Warlock: The Life of Philip Heseltine'' (1994) * D. H. Lawrence: ''

Women in Love ''Women in Love'' (1920) is a novel by English author D. H. Lawrence. It is a sequel to his earlier novel ''The Rainbow'' (1915) and follows the continuing loves and lives of the Brangwen sisters, Gudrun and Ursula. Gudrun Brangwen, an artist, ...

'' (1921) (as Julius Halliday) * Anthony Powell: ''Casanova's Chinese Restaurant'' (1960) (aspects of Maclintick) * David Pownall: ''Music to Murder By'' (1976) *

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for her ...

: ''Till September Petronella'' (short story, 1930s) (as Julian Oakes) * Osbert Sitwell: ''Those Were the Days'' (1938) (as Roy Hartle)

Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Ro ...

* Thomas Mann: ''Doctor Faustus'' (1947) (aspects of Adrian Leverkühn, see also Schoenberg)Stokes, Richard.
The Complete Songs of Hugo Wolf: Life, Letters, Lieder
' (2020)

Carl Friedrich Zelter Carl Friedrich Zelter (11 December 1758 15 May 1832)Grove/Fuller-Datei:Carl-Friedrich-Zelter.jpegMaitland, 1910. The Zelter entry takes up parts of pages 593-595 of Volume V. was a German composer, conductor and teacher of music. Working in his ...

* Elizabeth Sara Sheppard: ''Charles Auchester'' (1853) (as Aronach)

References

{{Reflist Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in fiction George Frideric Handel in fiction

Further reading

References