, ▁for ▁example ▁the ▁music ▁of ▁J . S . ▁Bach , ▁is ▁extremely ▁controvers ial , ▁and ▁indeed ▁resulted ▁in ▁one ▁of ▁the ▁most ▁he ated ▁deb ates ▁in ▁ 2 0 th - century ▁music ology . ▁One ▁school ▁of ▁thought ▁attempted ▁to ▁show ▁that ▁the ▁French ▁practice ▁was ▁actually ▁w ides p read ▁in ▁Europe , ▁and ▁performance ▁of ▁music ▁by ▁compos ers ▁as ▁diverse ▁as ▁Bach ▁and ▁Sc ar l atti ▁should ▁be ▁suff used ▁with ▁d otted ▁rh yth ms ; ▁another ▁school ▁of ▁thought ▁held ▁that ▁even - note ▁playing ▁was ▁the ▁norm ▁in ▁their ▁music ▁unless ▁d otted ▁rh yth ms ▁were ▁explicitly ▁not ated ▁in ▁the ▁score . ▁Ev idence ▁on ▁both ▁sides ▁of ▁the ▁argument ▁is ▁comp elling ; ▁for ▁example ▁ 1 7 th - century ▁English ▁writ ings ▁recomm ending ▁une qual ▁playing ▁( R og er ▁North ' s ▁aut obi ographical ▁Notes ▁of ▁Me , ▁written ▁around ▁ 1 6 9 5 , ▁describes ▁the ▁practice ▁explicitly , ▁in ▁reference ▁to ▁English ▁l ute ▁music ), ▁as ▁well ▁as ▁François ▁Cou per in , ▁who ▁wrote ▁in ▁L ' art ▁de ▁touch er ▁le ▁cla vec in ▁( 1 7 1 6 ), ▁that ▁in ▁Italian ▁music , ▁It ali ans ▁always ▁write ▁the ▁notes ▁exactly ▁the ▁way ▁they ▁want ▁them ▁played . ▁Then ▁again , ▁the ▁practice ▁may ▁have ▁been ▁more ▁w ides p read ▁in ▁some ▁areas , ▁such ▁as ▁England , ▁than ▁others , ▁such ▁as ▁Italy