"He was famous and feted during his lifetime, and his music was performed and plagiarized throughout Europe. But soon after his death, or even a little before, he passed into a state of neglect that seemed final. His works disappeared from concert program, and even in his own country his name was omitted from the gazettes, histories, and biographical dictionaries. A century elapsed. Then in Germany came the rediscovery of Johann Sebastian Bach, who had been the victim of a similar fate, except that he had known neither so resounding a success nor so complete repudiation. A small group…