Donald Satz wrote:
>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.
I don't know (I'm sure someone else does). But Bach transcribed complete
Vivaldi concertos (and not just one) which is incomparable to using a
theme as a departure point like Beethoven did with Diabelli.
Philip