English Music is the sixth novel by Peter Ackroyd. Published in 1992, it is both a bildungsroman and, in the words of critic John Barrell, "partly a series of rhapsodies and meditations on the nature of English culture, written in the styles of various great authors."[1] As with all Ackroyd's previous novels, it focuses on London, although on this occasion partly as a backdrop for English culture in general.