g Di Capo Aria where the last section became too unnatural and ornamented. Bach's late fugues were also criticised for being far too complex and without inspiration.
One of Bach's most famous critics was Johann Adolph Scheibe, "a critic in the forefront of the Enlightenment" who published a weekly music journal once said of Bach:.
This great man would be the admiration of whole nations if he had more amenity, if he did not take away the natural element in his pieces by giving them a bombastic [schwulstig] and confused style, and if he did not darken their beauty by an excess of art.
Scheibe was also said to have commented about Bach's parts being difficult to perform as he wrote every part as if it were for a keyboard instrument and also considered Bach's writing out of ornaments instead of letting the performer realize them themselves was unnatural and therefore conflicting against the Enlightenment ideals.
The Enlightenment had affected music of the 18th Century music in many ways. Larger public concert halls were built to accommodate increasing audiences and the production of music for amateur musicians grew. The newer music - known as the "Galant" style, avoided strict counterpoint and chromatic harmonies or modulation. Therefore I believe it would have had mass appeal to both the amateur musicians; being easier to play, and the normally sensitive listener.
At the time "Galant" was a french term orignally meaning fashionable or up to date. However in the 18th Century people used it to describe anything from clothes to conversation. Schulenberg says that: "Today, however the term is used more specifically to refer to mid-eighteenth century works whose melody, harmony, and texture represent a simplification of those of the preceding late Baroque Period" .
Of Bach's five sons, three were to become of considerable importance in the period of Enlightenment. All sons avoided their father's complex contrapuntal writing styles, although that is not to say they did not admire their father's music.