Donald Satz wrote:

>Philip Peters responds to me:
>
>>>But for me, Vivaldi offers mediocre melodies...
>>
>>Bach thought quite differently about Vivaldi's melodies, he even used a
>>number of them in his own work.
>
>Beethoven took a next-to-nothing theme of Diabelli's and created a
>masterpiece.  Does this necessarily mean that Beethoven thought highly
>of the Diabelli theme?  There can be a large number of reasons why one
>composer borrows from another.  I do wonder if we have any documented
>quotes from Bach relating to his opinion of Vivaldi.

Philip understated the case. Bach's concerto for four keyboards in A
minor is, solo parts aside, an exact transcription of Vivaldi's concerto
for four violins in B minor (Op.3 No.10?). Didn't Bach also transcribe
another concerto by Vivaldi for organ?

Deryk Barker <[log in to unmask]>