<\/p>
Time to curl up with a cup of cocoa and a good book? Classical bookworms can feast on a wealth of novels about performers, from Vikram Seth\u2019s An Equal Music <\/em>to Ann Patchett\u2019s operatic thriller Bel Canto<\/em>. But what about novels about composers? <\/p> We\u2019re not talking fictionalised artists \u2013 the likes of Adrian Leverk\u00fchn in Thomas Mann\u2019s Doctor Faustus –<\/em> but novels that take a look at the lives and worlds of real people.<\/p> So read on to find out how we rate ten fictional yarns about the great composers, from Strozzi in London to Elgar in the Amazon\u2026<\/p> We’ve given each novel a pair of star ratings out of five, as follows.<\/p> FACTS:<\/strong> just how much do we learn about the composer and their world? Julian Barnes (Vintage)<\/em><\/strong><\/p> A poetic story based on Shostakovich\u2019s life under Stalin\u2019s dangerous gaze<\/em><\/p> This was quite rightly a bestseller when it was published in 2016. In his three-part tale, Barnes plunges us into Shostakovich\u2019s<\/a><\/strong> nervous existence. Waiting \u2018on the landing\u2019 the composer anticipates an inevitable arrest, following the Pravda<\/em> article that almost ruined him.<\/p> Then \u2018On the plane\u2019 he endures a flight to New York in the service of the Soviet regime, and finally during a meandering journey taken \u2018In the car\u2019 he muses on his legacy as he enters his twilight years.<\/p> Through each he reflects on the life he lived (mostly in fear of something) the loves he enjoyed (and endured) and the music he wrote.<\/p> Barnes\u2019s prose is elegant and the fragmented structure makes you feel that you\u2019re inside the composer\u2019s head, flitting from one memory to the next. Of course, the musings are really Barnes\u2019s \u2013 this is a fictional take on documented events and biographical detail \u2013 but his Shostakovich is a credible character. A riveting story of survival.<\/p> FACTS: \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 FUN: \u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 <\/p> Anthony Burgess (Vintage)<\/em><\/strong><\/p> A slightly outr\u00e9 but nevertheless amusing look at a handful of arguing composers<\/em><\/p> A novel by Anthony Burgess? Surely something to savour. Prepare, however, to be disappointed. Mozart & the Wolf Gang <\/em>is a very different beast to Burgess\u2019s renowned 1962 dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange<\/em>.<\/p> Published in 1991 towards the end of Burgess\u2019s life, it is based around a set of discussions between famous composers, and is written like a play. This is persistently interrupted by a perplexing dialogue between two characters named Anthony and Burgess, plus a fictionalised narrative of Mozart<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s Symphony No. 40. It\u2019s as erratic as it sounds.<\/p>How we’ve scored the novels<\/h2>
Novels about composers: Shostakovich, Mozart, Vivaldi<\/h2>
The Noise of Time<\/strong><\/h3>
Mozart & the Wolf Gang<\/strong><\/h3>