"couple of words along the lines of ""regarded as one of the greatest..."", I for one will not object.  

  

 I remember that the theme that Frederick II played for JSB was judgged not to be very simple, au contraire.  Errasing ""simple""?  16:41 22 Jul 2003 (UTC) 

 : Done   

  

 I have a question about this Spitta bio. Does it pre-date Forkel (1808)?   

 :Spitta was born in 1841, so I guess not. His bio was written in the 1870s, as far as I can make out.  

 :OK, I have fixed the bios to make clear that Forkel's is the first. Also, while I had the page open, I took the opportuniy to add your suggested text (above) about Bach's preiminence.   

  

 This article as well as many others related to Bach, the BACH motif and fugues, all assert that the last fugue of the Kunst der Fuge remained unfinished, as Bach died before he could complete it. Though it's nearly established canon by now, Christopher Wolff and several other noted Bach researches contend that it's simply false: the KdF *was* finished, it just wasn't handed over to posterity correctly by keepers of the Bach estate  the final editions were not incorporated. (See, notably, the book Johann Sebastian Bach by Christopher Wolff.) 

 This, together with the ""Bach dictated the choral 'Vor deinem Thron tret' ich hiermit' at his death bed"" canard (not present in the article, thankfully), is perhaps the most commonly cited Bach myth. I don't have direct access to original material about it, though, which is why I'm reluctant to alter the article too much. For now, I've eliminated the remark, as it adds too little to the main article to be sorely missed. Could somebody sort it out once and for all and present the different views (probably in The Art of Fugue)? We'll get around to updating the linking articles in the aftermath. 

 == CPE Bach == 

 I note the comment that CPE Bach 'earned the respect of Mozart'. This seems to rather understate his significance given the prime influence his work had on all the 'Classical' period composers and through them on the early development of 19th cent romanticism (esp. with relation to piano works). Does anyone object to a small emendation to include at least reference to Haydn and Beethoven? 
 

 I agree. In fact when 18th-century music critics talked about the great Bach they meant CPE Bach, not JS. 

 == Bach's date of birth == 

 Is March 21, 1685 correct? One contributor has been changing it to March 31. Is there any uncertainty? Verifiable references only, please.  12:20, 2004 Nov 26 (UTC) 

 :Happy to oblige.  Johann Sebastian's birthdate is March 21, 1685.  There are three reliable primary sources:  Johann Gottfried Walther in his Musicalisches Lexicon, J.S.Bach's son CPE who was author of his obituary, and J.S. himself in his carefully prepared family genealogy.  The Georgenkirche baptismal register gives his date of baptism as March 23, two days after his birth.  Walther was an uncommonly reliable historian for the period, and in addition he was a close friend of Bach.   

 :: Of course, in the register it was March 21. But before 1700, the Julian calendar was used in the Protestant parts of Germany! According to the Gregorian calendar (which we use in Wikipedia) this date is March 31. Therefore I think the correction was right if there is no evidence that March 21 is Gregorian.   

 :::His birthdate doesn't change because we've switched to a Gregorian calendar! He was born 21 March 1685, which is a Julian date. It may be appropriate to indicate that it's Julian (e.g. 21 March 1685 (O.S.), but changing it to another date would not be a correction. -   

 :::: Well, it should be indicated that it is Julian, otherwise it is natural to assume that it is Gregorian. It seems to me that Gregorian dates should be indicated anyway, for all dates, whereas  dates according to all other dates are optional. In this case, of course, we should indicate both dates. Further, we have articles about Gregorian dates, not about Julian dates, therefore we should link 31 March, not  21 March. Wikipedia uses the Gregorian calendar.   

 :::::Um, well, George Washington was born on February 11, but when the Gregorian calendar kicked i