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Writer's pictureAlexandra Louise Harris

The Mystwick School of Musicraft

Updated: Mar 3


Today, Ferdinand and I finished the very entertaining audio book of The Mystwick School of Musicraft. We enjoyed it immensely, not only for the fact that there was recorded music (more on that shortly) but the story was very appealing. It's a little like Harry Potter's Hogwarts, meets Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart's Magical Flute. Incredible huh?


Well, needless to say, it was right up our Alley. The story begins with the protagonist Amelia charming a chicken with her flute (you can see pictorial evidence of that below). As happy a scene as that sounds, however, young Amelia desperately wants to leave and go to Mystwick—the same music academy her mother attended, and she dreams of becoming a maestro, just like her.


Unfortunately, the audition goes terribly wrong. Amelia fears all hope is lost, but then somehow, she receives an acceptance letter. She's in! Of course, she learns once she arrives, that it's all an enormous mistake. The real Amelia Jones is no longer around, and when our Amelia probationally takes her place, her secret is only known to the Mystwick Maestros.


So far, I haven't given away any spoilers that aren't in the blurb. However, before I go on, Ferdinand wishes me to inform you that we will be discussing the musical elements of the book and the magic. We will try very hard not to mention too much about the plot, but should you wish Mystwick to remain a mystery (we don't blame you... they both start with myst...) you many not wish to read further forth.

Oh wonderful. Thank you. It's always a little disappointing to be talking or playing, to an empty room.


Now for the music. At Mystwick, doors can open to a whistle, and if you play Pachelbel's Canon in D, magical things happen to the echo trees. There's Rossini's 'William Tell' overture, 'Reverie' by Debussy, Mozart's 'Magic Flute,' a rock and roll version of Vivaldi's 'Spring', and many other favourites like Grieg's 'Hall of the Mountain King' and Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkyries'. Beethoven's fifth symphony makes a dramatic appearance too, and we learn that 'Music is there for those who listen'. We also learn that music is very powerful indeed!


Even history is retold with music as the saviour. The Allied Military Symphony Orchestra was responsible for the victory in WW2, the Viking who founded America, did so by playing a spell he learned from a Raven, and in Ancient Japan, typhoon spells raised by music, prevented Mongolian invasions. Moreover, the Titanic was safely brought to shore by 'Row, row, row your boat.'


Pretty strong stuff, but it doesn't stop there. Divided into instrument groups, the Mystwick academia is much like Harry Potter. The Zephyr collects students from all over the world, including Phoebe from Australia—who I must say, sounded more Irish than Australian—and Amelia has two unlikely sidekicks. Similarly, Amelia doesn't quite belong, but through her mother, she is part of the school's history already. Therefore, if you are a fan of Harry Potter and classical music, this is absolutely the book for you!


What I found most interesting was that it is written in first person, present tense. Normally, I find this quite hard to read, however, it didn't bother me at all as an audio book. The story has the architecture of highs and lows where they ought to be, and moreover, the dark memory spinning its way through the narrative, kept up the mystery element I'm so fond of. The musical scenes were emotive, including a conductor who 'knits all the threads together,' and the melodies, harmonies, distances made by a full orchestra, powerful enough to 'move a forest.' Moreover, Amelia grows in strength and courage, just like a musical heroin should.


The recorded music, certainly added to the story, much like a film score, adding to the excitement or sadness... (Although, I must say, I listen to audio books at a speed of 1.5, so some of the tempos were a little faster than usual!)


'The Mystwick School of Musicraft was named one of the Best Audiobooks of 2019 by Audible and is one of the Top 20 Most Listened-To children's books of all time.' The 23 classical and original pieces in the audio book are also performed by the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra, which I think is pretty fantastic. Moreover, Ferdinand and I are on a quest to celebrate classical music in books and we believe there should be much more of it.


Audio books are the perfect format, and one day, hopefully very soon, Violetta and the Venetian Violinand the slightly unusual Vivaldi soundtrack—will be in audio too!


You can read more about the book and Jessica Khoury here at https://www.jessicakhoury.com/the-mystwick-school-of-musicraft.



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