Margaret Mikulska wrote:

>Mozart's little singspiel was written when he was 12 and it was soon
>forgotten.  There is no chance that Beethoven could see or hear it or
>see the score of it (it wasn't published until later).  Most certainly,
>he didn't even know this work existed.
>
>This claim that Eroica's theme is taken from Bastien is often repeated,
>but it's simply false.  People often mistake coincidental similarity for
>quotation, not knowing the context.

I don't think any less of Beethoven for having borrowed a theme from
Mozart.  Mahler borrowed themes all the time.  What really matters is what
the composer does with the themes.  Call it myth if you will, but I'll let
my ears be the judge, and to my ears, the themes from Bastien und Basteinne
and the Eroica are identical, and not by coincidence.

Mike