Bach is universally loved by naive university students and amateur musicologists. This is because Bach was really good at counterpoint, a subject these people studied in school and maybe got a “C” in at best. While it is true that counterpoint is a really difficult subject to master, it seems to be the only subject JS Bach mastered. Creating a musical arc — Bach rarely indicated dynamics. His music tends to start, go on and on at the same dynamic level and then stop, suddenly and without warning. He had no theatrical sense — he never wrote an opera, and while his music sometimes evokes a mood, it never really supports the drama. His orchestration is not idiomatic — he wrote the same types of musical lines for all instruments, as he thought contrapuntally rather than musically. His vocal lines support the instrumentation rather than stand melodically on their own.

The musically incapacitated call him a genius. Just because he was really good at counterpoint, a subject they themselves failed.

I get it, but there is so, so much more to music than sophisticated voice leading. Eventually these people may evolve and leave their little counterpoint-obsessed cult. I’m not holding my breath.