German composer shows grit (6)
I believe the answer is:
gravel
'grit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'german composer' is the wordplay.
'german' becomes 'g' (abbreviation).
'composer' becomes 'ravel' (I've seen this before).
'g'+'ravel'='GRAVEL'
'shows' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for gravel that I've seen before include "Small fragments of rock" , "Driveway surface" , "Mixture of small stones" , "Shingle" , "Small rounded stones" .)