Books with a musical hero

Last night before going to bed, I finally sat down and watched The Red Violin. Before I tried to watch it but I think one has to be in a certain mood because before it was boring. But last night I really dug it! It's more of a mood piece rather than a narrative, in my opinion because of the way the story unfolds with the music, the colors and the overall feel of the story. And who knew the violin could be such an erotic instrument! Swoon!


Looking at Joshua Bell, I'm sure I answered my own question. But I got the idea to do a book about a modern hero who is a musician (violinist) and mainly expresses his passion for life and voice through music. The heroine would probably be a noblewoman in a stuffy lifestyle.

I was wondering if there were any books out there like this that featured such a hero? I'd love to see what other authors have done with this theme and how they expressed the music narrative style.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations!

Thank goodness this is a message board or else I would have forgotten my own question lol.

Susan Gable said:

I'm sort of confused by the "modern hero" and "a noble woman in a stuffy lifestyle." Because "modern hero" says contemporary to me, while "noble woman in a stuff lifestyle" says historical to me.

Unless you didn't mean noble woman in the way I'm taking it. Like, Dutchess, noble woman.

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Hmm, kind of like a Princess character. My heroine is inspired by a real Princess reigning today actually. I don't know how stuffy her lifestyle is (I've only seen photos and read news reports) which may be a bit of creative license on my part. It's definitely on my "to research" list to find out more about her duties and living.

ETA: I'm thinking that a musician hero may work if the heroine is able to tame him somehow to get to the HEA. That works for me, at least. For a classical musician, hmmmm, it may be tough because they're rarely rich. For a modern version, maybe the "noblewoman" is a wealthy arts patron or something like that?

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Ooh thanks, MG! I'll check that one out too. That'd be a good dynamic to work with. How he handles her responsibility of ruling a nation (she'd be in the spotlight a lot while he's a private person) not to mention staying or continue touring. I'm still not sure about the end. Usually I find out after writing everything that leads up to it, but he better stay somehow lol.

I liked Red Violin too. One of Joanna Trollope's had quite a bit to do with some classical musicians and one of E George's mysteries worked around a Guarneri. Some others will spring to mind. I think you have an interesting idea.

Dija catch that bit in the WA Post about a year ago when Bell played semi-incognito on a street corner and only about three people stopped to listen?

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I agree. I'm going to try to get the DVD so I can sit down and watch it again closely because I'm sure I missed some things the first time around. I'll check out those authors you mentioned. Let me know if you think of any others.

I just recently heard about that Post article. I didn't realize he did that a year ago, wow. Part of that helped my idea in putting the story in modern times to enhance the juxtaposition of classical romantic with modern fast paced technology. It's really helping me see how the hero fits in today's society. I don't know what piece Josh Bell played but that was beautiful!