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Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach
An unforgettable tale of two lonely girls, born centuries apart, who change each other's livesWinner of the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature PrizeGovernor General's Literary Award NomineeA CLA Honour Book of the Year for ChildrenCatharina Bach sings only for her mother; she is too frightened of her famous father to even speak, let alone sing. Three centuries later, in modern-day Saskatchewan, Hannah Waters struggles to play Bach's Concerto for Two Violins, one she was supposed to have played with her mother. In this deeply moving novel, Hannah and Catharina will find and help each other discover the music within and the courage to express it.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 22, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
June 30, 2025
While Barbara Kathleen Nickel's Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach indeed has endings that might for some readers seem a trifle too facile and easy, for all intents and purposes (and as a general music themed and based both historical fiction and contemporary issues tale), Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach is definitely a both delightful and thought-provoking middle grade novel, weaving together multiple thematic threads into a lovely and gently inspiring whole (involving history, music, bullying, and yes, how adults and children either handle or choose not to handle questions about the reality and pain of death and loss).
So Barbara Kathleen Nickel begins her Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach with Hannah Waters and her father having recently relocated to Saskatchewan (from Southern Ontario). Hannah's mother (who was of course also the father's wife) has recently died, and dealing with this loss has been made considerably more traumatic for especially young Hannah because her father's way of confronting his own grief has been to completely bottle up his feelings, whilst his daughter, whilst Hannah desperately both wants and needs to talk about her mother, to discuss death and her feelings with him. Now Hannah's mother had been a celebrated professional violinist, and Hannah (who has inherited her mother's musical talents and is herself a student of the violin) feels certain that her own budding violin playing would improve (and that she also would be able to feel much closer to her deceased mother and be more easily able to understand and accept her death) if she were allowed to play her mother's treasured historic violin, if she were even just permitted to once in a while hold said violin close to her. But sadly thus far, Hannah’s father has stubbornly refused to even consider either taking the violin from where he has hidden it or even remotely discussing his wife's/Hannah's mother' death and their joint loss (even though it is made abundantly clear in Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach that his wife had obviously stipulated that in the event of her death, Hannah was to inherit, was to play her very special 18th century German made violin). Combined with being the new girl in a rather cliquey small town Saskatchewan school and having to face some annoying, bordering on nasty bullying from the so-called popular girls, Hannah's life is thus at present, at the beginning of Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach pretty sadly miserable, especially since her one solace, her violin playing, is also fraught with emotion and potential strife and sadness. For not only does the violin naturally and constantly remind both her father and Hannah of the fact that the mother (the wife) has died, is no longer living, even Hannah's student grade violin has itself recently become at best problematic for her, vacillating between being her best friend to sometimes truly being her worst enemy, being a millstone, a never ending chore and ever-present obligation.
And across time and space, in early 18th century Germany, Catharina Bach, the eldest child of musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach is having her own set of issues, is experiencing a similarly depressing life as Hannah. With younger brothers who are both boisterous and as sons of course also considered more worthy of acknowledgement, Catharine is having trouble speaking up, and even being noticed by her famous musician and composer father. Because although Catharina clearly posseses as much musical acumen and talent as her brothers do, her father (Johann Sebastian Bach) only seems to notice that his daughter is physically tall and at times clumsy. When Catharina’s musically talented mother then teaches her daughter transcription (while Johann Sebastian Bach is away on an extended business and performance tour), Catharina might have finally found a way to get her father, to get Johann Sebastian Bach to notice her, to become aware of Catharina’s musical and transcription talents. But then the mother becomes fatally ill.
Now yes indeed, neither Hannah Waters nor Catharina Bach ever actually do meet in person, but through the course of Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, their lives do seem to become increasingly, a bit strangely but also sweetly and beautifully intertwined, often not only mirroring each other's existences but actually to the point that Catharina totally feels and experiences Hannah and vice versa (both each other's happinesses and sadnesses). And the specific link between them seems to be emanating not only from their rather similar life events and experiences (including a for Hannah deceased and for Catharina an ill and dying mother), but also from their mutual love of music, from Bach's Concerto for Two Violins and Johann Sebastian Bach's actual violin, since Hanna’s mother's historic violin, the violin she used to play at her recitals, her performances, is in fact and indeed Johann Sebastian Bach's own violin, the instrument for which he originally composed his Concerto for Two Violins.
But well, even though in Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, Hannah and Catharina never in fact converse with one another (and which is actually rather fortunate, as Hannah Waters speaks English and Catharina Bach would of course be speaking German), they do continuously appear to be aware of each other, to feel each other as presences across the aether, across time and space (providing emotional support, music, as well as comfort with regard to their mothers' fates). Highly recommended is Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, but with the necessary caveat that the theme of death is indeed prevalent throughout, and although handled and depicted gently enough, sensitive readers might well tear up a bit especially with regard to Catharina's mother, for while Hannah's own mother is already deceased at the beginning of Hannah Waters and there Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, Maria Bach dies during the course of the novel and her death is also described in detail, not in any way horribly or gruesomely, but yes, in considerable detail.
So Barbara Kathleen Nickel begins her Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach with Hannah Waters and her father having recently relocated to Saskatchewan (from Southern Ontario). Hannah's mother (who was of course also the father's wife) has recently died, and dealing with this loss has been made considerably more traumatic for especially young Hannah because her father's way of confronting his own grief has been to completely bottle up his feelings, whilst his daughter, whilst Hannah desperately both wants and needs to talk about her mother, to discuss death and her feelings with him. Now Hannah's mother had been a celebrated professional violinist, and Hannah (who has inherited her mother's musical talents and is herself a student of the violin) feels certain that her own budding violin playing would improve (and that she also would be able to feel much closer to her deceased mother and be more easily able to understand and accept her death) if she were allowed to play her mother's treasured historic violin, if she were even just permitted to once in a while hold said violin close to her. But sadly thus far, Hannah’s father has stubbornly refused to even consider either taking the violin from where he has hidden it or even remotely discussing his wife's/Hannah's mother' death and their joint loss (even though it is made abundantly clear in Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach that his wife had obviously stipulated that in the event of her death, Hannah was to inherit, was to play her very special 18th century German made violin). Combined with being the new girl in a rather cliquey small town Saskatchewan school and having to face some annoying, bordering on nasty bullying from the so-called popular girls, Hannah's life is thus at present, at the beginning of Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach pretty sadly miserable, especially since her one solace, her violin playing, is also fraught with emotion and potential strife and sadness. For not only does the violin naturally and constantly remind both her father and Hannah of the fact that the mother (the wife) has died, is no longer living, even Hannah's student grade violin has itself recently become at best problematic for her, vacillating between being her best friend to sometimes truly being her worst enemy, being a millstone, a never ending chore and ever-present obligation.
And across time and space, in early 18th century Germany, Catharina Bach, the eldest child of musician and composer Johann Sebastian Bach is having her own set of issues, is experiencing a similarly depressing life as Hannah. With younger brothers who are both boisterous and as sons of course also considered more worthy of acknowledgement, Catharine is having trouble speaking up, and even being noticed by her famous musician and composer father. Because although Catharina clearly posseses as much musical acumen and talent as her brothers do, her father (Johann Sebastian Bach) only seems to notice that his daughter is physically tall and at times clumsy. When Catharina’s musically talented mother then teaches her daughter transcription (while Johann Sebastian Bach is away on an extended business and performance tour), Catharina might have finally found a way to get her father, to get Johann Sebastian Bach to notice her, to become aware of Catharina’s musical and transcription talents. But then the mother becomes fatally ill.
Now yes indeed, neither Hannah Waters nor Catharina Bach ever actually do meet in person, but through the course of Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, their lives do seem to become increasingly, a bit strangely but also sweetly and beautifully intertwined, often not only mirroring each other's existences but actually to the point that Catharina totally feels and experiences Hannah and vice versa (both each other's happinesses and sadnesses). And the specific link between them seems to be emanating not only from their rather similar life events and experiences (including a for Hannah deceased and for Catharina an ill and dying mother), but also from their mutual love of music, from Bach's Concerto for Two Violins and Johann Sebastian Bach's actual violin, since Hanna’s mother's historic violin, the violin she used to play at her recitals, her performances, is in fact and indeed Johann Sebastian Bach's own violin, the instrument for which he originally composed his Concerto for Two Violins.
But well, even though in Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, Hannah and Catharina never in fact converse with one another (and which is actually rather fortunate, as Hannah Waters speaks English and Catharina Bach would of course be speaking German), they do continuously appear to be aware of each other, to feel each other as presences across the aether, across time and space (providing emotional support, music, as well as comfort with regard to their mothers' fates). Highly recommended is Hannah Waters and the Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, but with the necessary caveat that the theme of death is indeed prevalent throughout, and although handled and depicted gently enough, sensitive readers might well tear up a bit especially with regard to Catharina's mother, for while Hannah's own mother is already deceased at the beginning of Hannah Waters and there Daughter of Johann Sebastian Bach, Maria Bach dies during the course of the novel and her death is also described in detail, not in any way horribly or gruesomely, but yes, in considerable detail.
April 2, 2017
I absolutely LOVED this book! Thank you Barbara Kathleen Nickel for coming up with this story. I'm also thankful and SO glad my cousin recommended it for me! This book, to me needed a review, so here is mine...
This book is for music lovers (people who play, would like to play, or just like the violin and J.S. Bach and his Concerto for Two Violins or just any music lover, really), history lovers, and people who like both the past and the present with real and fictional events in books! If you don't like any of those things in books, too bad, because this is a really great book! Maybe, though you could try it, or at least read my review and see if its a book you think you might be interested in. I think we can all relate to this book in one way or other, it has many realatable struggles that the characters go through and the characters personalities are relatable too!
I fell in love with the characters, right away! To me they were very unique and unlike any characters I have read about before in books (I absolutely LOVE, LOVE reading, so I have read about a lot of characters). They share the same struggles as the characters I have read about before, but their personalities...I don't even know how to describe them, really. I just hope my review is good enough that you will read this book and find out for yourself or have read the book, and hopefully, somewhat agree with me. Okay I will try to write what their personalities are like as best as I can. I'm going to do it in point form because it is the easiest for me. Here I go...
Catharina:
-Self conscious and can't talk to people very well, except her Mama. Examples: she can't even really say the word Papa to her own Papa, without running away let alone a whole sentence, and she cant yell at her brothers only this soft voice comes out
-She has,I picture a beautiful but shy and soft voice, that her Papa and brothers and Mama, don't really notice
Hannah:
-Loves to speak her mind and stand up for herself, that might not always work to her advantage, but still can get a little tongue tied and nervous too.
-She's not a goody little two shoes to her parents, by that I mean she argues with them and talks back to them.
-Is not happy with her new life and gets frustrated about it and the violin, very easily.
These are the sort of struggles both Hannah and Catharina faced in the book (point form):
-Both of them feel lonely and unappreciated, and get somewhat bullied by others.
-Have lost someone close to them that they love
-Are about to give up on something that they love because they are too afraid and do not believe in themselves, enough.
(See relatable struggles and personalities,right?)
Just like the synopsis says: An unforgettable tale of two lonely girls, born centuries apart, who change each other's lives...Hannah and Catharina will find and help each other discover the music within and the courage to express it. Plus...I want to say magic or fate?! If you read it or have read it, you will understand. Or maybe I'm just wrong to say the magic and fate part in the first place! Oh, well...
I want to re-read this book, again right now...even though I just finished reading it, haha! I have to give it back to my cousin, though because I borrowed it from her, I don't want to say goodbye to it though...or maybe...yes! I will ask her if I can keep it so I can re-read it over and over. Yes, that is how much I LOVED this book!:)
I wonder what my cousin will say when I ask her if I can keep this book...
This book is for music lovers (people who play, would like to play, or just like the violin and J.S. Bach and his Concerto for Two Violins or just any music lover, really), history lovers, and people who like both the past and the present with real and fictional events in books! If you don't like any of those things in books, too bad, because this is a really great book! Maybe, though you could try it, or at least read my review and see if its a book you think you might be interested in. I think we can all relate to this book in one way or other, it has many realatable struggles that the characters go through and the characters personalities are relatable too!
I fell in love with the characters, right away! To me they were very unique and unlike any characters I have read about before in books (I absolutely LOVE, LOVE reading, so I have read about a lot of characters). They share the same struggles as the characters I have read about before, but their personalities...I don't even know how to describe them, really. I just hope my review is good enough that you will read this book and find out for yourself or have read the book, and hopefully, somewhat agree with me. Okay I will try to write what their personalities are like as best as I can. I'm going to do it in point form because it is the easiest for me. Here I go...
Catharina:
-Self conscious and can't talk to people very well, except her Mama. Examples: she can't even really say the word Papa to her own Papa, without running away let alone a whole sentence, and she cant yell at her brothers only this soft voice comes out
-She has,I picture a beautiful but shy and soft voice, that her Papa and brothers and Mama, don't really notice
Hannah:
-Loves to speak her mind and stand up for herself, that might not always work to her advantage, but still can get a little tongue tied and nervous too.
-She's not a goody little two shoes to her parents, by that I mean she argues with them and talks back to them.
-Is not happy with her new life and gets frustrated about it and the violin, very easily.
These are the sort of struggles both Hannah and Catharina faced in the book (point form):
-Both of them feel lonely and unappreciated, and get somewhat bullied by others.
-Have lost someone close to them that they love
-Are about to give up on something that they love because they are too afraid and do not believe in themselves, enough.
(See relatable struggles and personalities,right?)
Just like the synopsis says: An unforgettable tale of two lonely girls, born centuries apart, who change each other's lives...Hannah and Catharina will find and help each other discover the music within and the courage to express it. Plus...I want to say magic or fate?! If you read it or have read it, you will understand. Or maybe I'm just wrong to say the magic and fate part in the first place! Oh, well...
I want to re-read this book, again right now...even though I just finished reading it, haha! I have to give it back to my cousin, though because I borrowed it from her, I don't want to say goodbye to it though...or maybe...yes! I will ask her if I can keep it so I can re-read it over and over. Yes, that is how much I LOVED this book!:)
I wonder what my cousin will say when I ask her if I can keep this book...
July 30, 2011
Amazing, really draws you into the story. Good for violin players like ME. It also made me thankful that I didn't have terrible memories about that piece, and I could enjoy it.
November 18, 2018
A beautiful story, just read it.
September 18, 2017
Quick Review:
Protagonists ★★★★☆
Supporting Cast ★★★★☆
Diversity ★☆☆☆☆
Writing ★★★★☆
Worldbuilding★★★★★
Plot ★★★★☆
A nice little book about two young musicians, whose arcs are about self-confidence. This book is heavy on music, and the music aspect is very well-written; Nickel must either be a musician or a very thorough researcher. Hannah and Catharina's music problems and obstacles are so real, and I like the fact that, even in the climax scenes, neither performance is perfect. The way both girls handle their struggles at the end of the book is different from the way the do at the start, showing how far they've come. I also love the inclusion of fiddle, which is as fun as Hannah's POV presents it. (Fun fact: this was my first exposure to the Bach Double, now one of my favourite concertos.) Though the characters are young (grade school age, if I remember correctly) I'd totally recommend this book, especially to a musician.
Protagonists ★★★★☆
Supporting Cast ★★★★☆
Diversity ★☆☆☆☆
Writing ★★★★☆
Worldbuilding★★★★★
Plot ★★★★☆
A nice little book about two young musicians, whose arcs are about self-confidence. This book is heavy on music, and the music aspect is very well-written; Nickel must either be a musician or a very thorough researcher. Hannah and Catharina's music problems and obstacles are so real, and I like the fact that, even in the climax scenes, neither performance is perfect. The way both girls handle their struggles at the end of the book is different from the way the do at the start, showing how far they've come. I also love the inclusion of fiddle, which is as fun as Hannah's POV presents it. (Fun fact: this was my first exposure to the Bach Double, now one of my favourite concertos.) Though the characters are young (grade school age, if I remember correctly) I'd totally recommend this book, especially to a musician.
July 10, 2014
This is a MUST read for Suzuki violinists!!! I read this back when I was in Suzuki volume 5 for violin - around the same time when Hannah, the main character, was also in the same level as me. IT WAS SOOOOOOOO COOL!!! This was like, the most perfect book for me at the time, and it really inspired me to be a better violinist.
I really, really loved the plot. There's two stories in this book, one follows the events of Catharina in the 1700s, (BACH'S DAUGHTER!!!) and the other, Hannah, in today's period. This book made me cry, laugh, and most of all, INSPIRRRRRED MEHHHH! I'm really glad I came across this very special gem! I SHALL READ IT AGAIN! (I get all hyper just thinking about this awesome story.)
I really, really loved the plot. There's two stories in this book, one follows the events of Catharina in the 1700s, (BACH'S DAUGHTER!!!) and the other, Hannah, in today's period. This book made me cry, laugh, and most of all, INSPIRRRRRED MEHHHH! I'm really glad I came across this very special gem! I SHALL READ IT AGAIN! (I get all hyper just thinking about this awesome story.)
August 5, 2011
Hannah has recently moved to Saskatchewan from Toronto after the death of her violinist mother and is the odd girl at her new school - because she’s from the big city, plays violin, father doesn’t drive, and all the other reasons kids might have to exclude her. Catharina, only daughter and eldest child of J.S. Bach, is virtually mute and virtually ignored by her famous father. But both girls’ lives revolve around Bach’s composition of the Concerto for Two Violins in D and the power of the music and a particular violin connect their lives over the three hundred years separating them and provide the support they both need.
March 14, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. I think the author did a nice job understanding the emotions of the teo girls. This book also had special meaning for me, as I just played the Bach Double, the music featured in the ook, at my own recital.
I am also interested in writing fictional stories abut composer's lives, and this was a fine example f that.
I am also interested in writing fictional stories abut composer's lives, and this was a fine example f that.
September 22, 2010
I was simply amazing! It is so inspiring and whenever I was feeling discouraged this motivated me and I learned to enjoy violin more.
October 25, 2010
This book was really great! I found it interesting because the author is a friend of my aunt's. It was a MYRCA book a few years back.
February 11, 2009
I love this book!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews