Mozart and the Wolf Gang is a 1991 novel by Anthony Burgess

Anthony Burgess

John Burgess Wilson  – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...

 about the life and world of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...

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Among other things, it attempts to fictionalize Mozart's Symphony No.40

Symphony No. 40 (Mozart)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his Symphony No. 40 in G minor, KV. 550, in 1788. It is sometimes referred to as the "Great G minor symphony," to distinguish it from the "Little G minor symphony," No. 25. The two are the only minor key symphonies Mozart wrote....

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The book is one of a group of Burgess novels with musical themes, the others being Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements

Napoleon Symphony

Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements is Anthony Burgess's fictional recreation of the life and world of Napoleon Bonaparte, first published in 1974...

, which is built around Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3

Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)

Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major , also known as the Eroica , is a landmark musical work marking the full arrival of the composer's "middle-period," a series of unprecedented large scale works of emotional depth and structural rigor.The symphony is widely regarded as a mature...

, A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....

, in which Beethoven's Symphony No. 9

Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)

The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...

 features prominently, and The Pianoplayers

The Pianoplayers

The Pianoplayers is a 1986 novel by Anthony Burgess, drawing heavily on his memories of his father, a pub piano-player. The narrator, Ellen Henshaw, is a prostitute who later becomes a madam. Her father, Billy, plays the piano in the cinema, accompanying silent movies....

, about the music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 era.

Mozart and the Wolf Gang brings to life various composers through fictional representations: Prokofiev, Gershwin, Elgar, Rossini, Mendelssohn

Felix Mendelssohn

Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...

, Berlioz, Wagner and Schoenberg

Schoenberg

Schoenberg is the surname of several persons:* Arnold Schoenberg , Austrian-American composer* Claude-Michel Schoenberg , French record producer, actor, singer, popular songwriter, and musical theatre composer...

feature in various dialogues.

In the same year, 1991, that he published the novel, Burgess brought out a work on the composer entitled On Mozart: A Paean for Wolfgang, Being a Celestial Colloquy, an Opera Libretto, a Film Script, a Schizophrenic Dialogue, a Bewildered Rumination.