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