There he finds a warm welcome from Bach’s large and variously talented family, and, when domestic tragedy strikes, Runcie has us follow the course of the extraordinary creation of Bach’s masterpiece, one of the greatest works in all of classical music. Set in Leipzig, Germany, in 1727/28, The Great Passion is a historical novel about Johann Sebastian Bach's writing of St. Matthew Passion (we were required to submit two pages, but I wrote 45 pages, because I was so in love with this thing), and the opening: the chorus inviting us to hear the story of Jesus' execution, still makes me cry. But when the school's cantor, Johann Sebastian Bach, takes notice of his new pupil's beautiful singing voice and draws him from the choir to be a soloist, Stefan's life is permanently changed.

The Great Passion — what was it like to hear Bach’s music at The Great Passion — what was it like to hear Bach’s music at

It explores grief and music, and how music helps to cope with grief - in this case resulting in a masterpiece of musical composition.Bach's family also has much to grieve, and the author does a wonderful job of describing how Bach's faith and his musical creation blend to tell the story of his grief, as well as to help heal. Bach doesn’t shy away from this tension (he seems to charge at it head on) and by the end of the novel, I believe Stefan’s healing is related to his own ability to bear the tension. Don’t cry for me, I’m going where music is born,” the devout J S Bach supposedly said on his deathbed. Warmly, reverently, Runcie brings alive what it is like to take part, for the very first time, in one of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever written. The Great Passion is the story of Stefan Silbermann who comes from a family who makes organs in 18th century Saxony in Germany.

James Runcie | The Great Passion

Stefan attempts to explain to himself as best he can what he sees around him during times bringing change and opportunity, but also isolation. This Passion unfolds in toil and travail amid the chill of drafty chambers and the stink of beasts, turnips and tobacco, with 'the inevitability of loss and sorrow' as the ground-bass of each page .I understood the lessons Stefan had to learn about supporting the music, phrasing, where to take a breath. It interweaves a series of stories in a very coherent fashion and, for me, this is re-enforced by the authenticity of its central context and its setting. No matter how crowded Bach’s house is, there is always room for love and showing kindness and charity. The other students bully Silbermann relentlessly, but his vocal talent attracts the attention of Bach, the school’s cantor, and Bach’s family offers the boy emotional support. The “Passion” itself then dropped into oblivion until a young musical prodigy—a baptized Jew named Felix Mendelssohn—discovered the score and revived it for a performance in Berlin in 1829.

The Great Passion - The Historical Association The Great Passion - The Historical Association

From there, the rest of the story, except for the last chapter, is from 14-year-old Stefan’s perspective as he leaves his family home after his mother’s death to receive schooling and musical training in Leipzig. It can be the sight of a flower or a smile of a friend or the silence at the end of a piece of music.

In each case, Runcie takes what we know about these historical individuals and fleshes them out into real-life characters who speak through the pages of his novel. It happens when there is a birth or a death, an arrival or a departure, the moments either side of it becoming forms of descent and recovery, when we do not know quite what to do or how long this unexpected bewilderment will last.