Roger Curtis:

>...  Can anyone else recommend any other novels with a classical music
>background?

Two classics are Thomas Mann's 'Doctor Faustus,' and Romain Rolland's
'Jean-Christophe,' the latter about a Beethoven-like composer.  Both
are available in English translation and in paperback.  (I found Doctor
Faustus pretty heavy going.) Interestingly, in a case of art imitating
art, Charles Koechlin composed a tone-poem based on an episode in
'Jean-Christophe.'

Another that has been recommended to me, but which I haven't read yet,
is Cassandra Garbus's 'Solo Variations.' The author is a former free-lance
oboist and this is her first novel, but I've been assured that it is
very accurate about such things as the auditioning process and the like.
It, too, is in paperback.  And all three of these are available at
www.amazon.com and, I suspect, other online book stores.

Scott Morrison