Geoffrey Gaskell wrote of Bach:

> He was not the sort of person to be in the least bit interested in making
>concessions to accomodate "the mediocre".

I would say that the dance music he often wrote belies this, he was quite
capable of writing sublime turns into the simples of pieces, and clearly
for some of the simplest of musicians.  He was, however, the sort of man
who knew how to pick his battles - in the church music, where his job
description gave him a freer hand, he naturally looked for the best
musicians he could get.

Stirling Newberry