Ari Reviews: The Great Passion – James Runcie

The Great Passion by James Runcie is an excellent book I highly recommend reading and checking out. The book is set in early 18th century Leipzig, Germany where 13-year old Stefan has just lost his mother due to illness. Stefan’s father decides to send him to a school in Leipzig to help him cope with the loss of his mother and get a proper education as well as help him with his musical talent. Stefan endures bullying, loneliness, and grief as he adjusts to his new school and classmates. However, when Stefan sings in church with his fellow classmates, the school’s cantor who is Johann Sebastian Bach notices Stefan’s angelic voice and takes him under his wing to help Stefan grow in his musical ability.  Johann Sebastian Bach’s family provides Stefan with the love, care, and support he had with his mother but never that bond with his own father. When Bach and Stefan prepare for Bach’s upcoming musical piece the Great Passion, Stefan will learn to experience the meaning of passion through the sorrows, love, friendships, family, & grief as they endure life’s joys and sorrows.  This was a moving story that crafted the mystery of life and how one can grow and be transformed through sorrow, music, and love. I love how the author depicted the Bach family and their impact throughout the book on how they played a great role in Stefan’s life and those who knew them through their kindness, charity, wisdom, friendship, and comfort through the music they composed.  I also thought the author did a great job reflecting Bach’s famous work The Great Passion in terms of how it explores grief and the healing and comforting power of music. This book would be great for anyone who loves music, historical fiction, and the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. The book was a powerful read that held many emotions and had me feeling happy, sad, angry, etc. through Stefan’s journey in his childhood and the experiences he had with the Bach family and being part of one of the composer’s well known works of music of “ The Great Passion” and the meaning behind this musical masterpiece. I encourage you to check this out and you will not be disappointed and will not be able to put it down!