The relationship of music and literature is deep. Operas were often adapted from works of fiction, especially dramas and epic poems. Literature, too, has often taken inspiration from music in every aspect from theme to structure.
Among composers, Beethoven probably takes the top honor for being most frequently referred to by great authors. In overcoming his deafness to transcend the material world through sound, he is a symbol of transcendence. Below are some of the ways that writers have worked the composer into their stories (and one way the composer was himself inspired in turn).
