On Sunday evening I was hoping for a Proustian moment when i listened to the Magnificat for the first time in 50 years. But I was Baching up the wrong tree…

In the past month I’ve been to two excellent concerts that have awakened my musical curiosity.

At the weekend I went to see my book circle pal, Teutonic Tim, and his church choir sing two Magnificats at the Revelation Church in Hagersten. One by Kurnau who was the cantor at Leipzig before Bach, and then Bach’s own setting.

Big choir, four superb soloists and a full orchestra. It was stupendous and very inspiring.

I am now bingeing on Bach on Spotify and have started reading James Runcie’s The Great Passion, an excellent historical novel about JSB and the writing of the Saint Matthew Passion. It’s told from the perspective of Stefan Silbermann, an eleven year-old soprano who becomes Bach’s star pupil.

Runcie, the Grantchester Hitmaker, is rather an expect on Cantor Bach and has made a documentary and written a play about his life. He seems to be part of a trend to get beyond the legend and get to know the man behind the music.

Many years » Continue Reading.