Bob Draper, I think, wrote:

>It does raise the question: How do the list members who love Bach yet
>criticise Vivaldi justify their stance?

Presumably you're wondering because Bach loved Vivaldi, a well known fact.

I've often wondered what about Vivaldi Bach must have loved, and I can
only guess:  rhythm.  Bach's rhythmic thoughts tended to the complex rather
than to the vigorous and energetic (IMHO), and I think he simply loved
energetic music written by others.  For instance, see how late in life he
turned to dance-forms, explicitly, (though of course he had been writing
works, overtures, choruses, even, that were really gigues in disguise, for
many years before that).

It is hard for me to believe that rhythmic inspiration came hard to Bach,
but I suppose it is possible.  If Vivaldi inspired Bach, I wonder what he
would have thought of Beethoven, and Stravinski (or Leonard Bernstein).
I know this is the worst kind of idle speculation, but hey, that's me.

I really couldn't stand Vivaldi, until recently when I listened again to
his Gloria.  That is quite beautiful, though not in the same league as
Bach, for me.  And suddenly I get some insight into the thetoric of the
endless repeated notes in the concertos.  (In the same way, Mahler's songs
gave me a sort of clue to his symphonic idiom.)

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