Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
‘Bach in the Flesh’ follows a pioneering workshop on J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion at the Royal Academy of Music.
The film reveals the dramatic impact that experimental performances informed by history have on participants.
The workshop stems from Music in the Flesh, an innovative collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music.
Sopranos wandering freely as they sing. Audiences swaying and tapping along to the music. Tears, sighs, hugs, dancing, and hands on hearts. This isn’t how classical music is usually performed or experienced in the 21st century.
Project lead Professor Bettina Varwig argues that mainstream classical concert culture today ‘disembodies’ music and distances performers from their audience. Drawing on very different ideas about music and the body from the early modern period, and working with professional musicians, Varwig aims to help classical music re-embrace its powerful relationship with our bodies.
The film features interviews with performers; Bettina Varwig, Professor of Music History and Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; and her collaborators: violinist Margaret Faultless, Becket Chair of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music and a leader of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; and tenor Nicholas Mulroy, Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and Associate Director of the Dunedin Consort.
Find out more: cam.ac.uk/stories/classical-music-in-the-flesh
‘Bach in the Flesh’ follows a pioneering workshop on J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion at the Royal Academy of Music.
The film reveals the dramatic impact that experimental performances informed by history have on participants.
The workshop stems from Music in the Flesh, an innovative collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music.
Sopranos wandering freely as they sing. Audiences swaying and tapping along to the music. Tears, sighs, hugs, dancing, and hands on hearts. This isn’t how classical music is usually performed or experienced in the 21st century.
Project lead Professor Bettina Varwig argues that mainstream classical concert culture today ‘disembodies’ music and distances performers from their audience. Drawing on very different ideas about music and the body from the early modern period, and working with professional musicians, Varwig aims to help classical music re-embrace its powerful relationship with our bodies.
The film features interviews with performers; Bettina Varwig, Professor of Music History and Fellow at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; and her collaborators: violinist Margaret Faultless, Becket Chair of Historical Performance at the Royal Academy of Music and a leader of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; and tenor Nicholas Mulroy, Visiting Professor at the Royal Academy of Music and Associate Director of the Dunedin Consort.
Find out more: cam.ac.uk/stories/classical-music-in-the-flesh
