SO'P, a flight of fancy? I have no idea; there's no evidence to tell me who was a genius and who wasn't. My own suspicion is that musicians throughout history have been pretty much like musicians today: some have genius, some are really good at reproducing what they hear, some are boring as hell to listen to, some are exciting, some are pedantic in their approach, and some are iconoclasts. Some have the ability to come up with new things, and some are great at presenting existing material to an audience. Some take lessons all their lives and never get beyond ordinary. Some practice a lot and some are lazy about it. Some like one kind of song, some another. Some can't sing, but can play a tune that will make you come out of a coma to dance. Only a very few are able to support themselves playing music; the rest have jobs, families, churches, friends, other interests, and are generally part of a community that is not musical in nature.

As to whether or not the old craftmanship has been lost, yes, probably, in many cases. But, at least with music, I think there is no lack of current craftmanship -- it's just being applied to a different stylistic aesthetic. I can't imagine musicianship, creativity, or genius going away. I believe they are still being applied to folk music, and that the folk process persists.

John