'The decades around 1700 saw the publication of a clutch of fictional literature by German writers about music and musicians, a body of works largely overlooked by musicologists so far. Stephen Rose's book … draws attention to this group of sources, in order to shed new light on musical life in late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Germany. His study investigates literary works by Johann Beer, Johann Kuhnau, Wolfgang Caspar Printz and Daniel Speer, all of which introduce musical characters as their main protagonists. Through their entertaining, scandalous or moralistic narratives, these novels reflect and engage with a number of prominent contemporary debates: about the role of musicians in society, about music's affective powers and dangers, or about its embattled position between the forces of sense and reason. Rose's detailed exposition of these highly instructive materials raises a host of intriguing questions that invite further thought, research and discussion.' Early Music.