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Luigi Boccherini | |
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 Pencil drawing of Boccherini by Étienne Mazas after a portrait bust | |
| Born | (1743-02-19)19 February 1743 Lucca, Republic of Lucca |
| Died | 28 May 1805(1805-05-28) (aged 62) Madrid, Kingdom of Spain |
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| Works | List of compositions |
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Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini[1] (/ˌbɒkəˈriːni/,[2][3]alsoUS:/ˌboʊk-/,[4][5]Italian:[riˈdɔlfoluˈiːdʒibokkeˈriːni]ⓘ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italiancomposer andcellist of theClassical era whose music retained acourtly andgalante style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers. He is best known for aminuet from hisString Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), and theCello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arrangerFriedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version.
Boccherini's output also includes several guitar quintets. The final movement of the Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D (G 448) is afandango, a lively Spanish dance.
Boccherini was born into a musical family inLucca, Italy in 1743.[6] He was the third child of Leopoldo Boccherini, acellist anddouble-bass player, and the brother of Giovanni Gastone Boccherini, a poet and dancer who wrotelibretti forAntonio Salieri andJoseph Haydn.[7] Luigi received his first music lessons at age five by his father, who taught him cello, and then continued his studies at age nine with Abbé Vanucci, music director of a local cathedral, at San Martino.[8] When his son reached thirteen, Leopoldo Boccherini sent him to study in Rome withGiovanni Battista Costanzi.[8] In 1757 Luigi Boccherini and his father both went toVienna, where the court employed them as musicians in theBurgtheater.
In 1768 Boccherini went to Madrid, entering in 1770 the employ ofInfante Luis Antonio of Spain (1727–1785), younger brother of KingCharles III of Spain. There, Boccherini flourished under royal patronage, until one day when the King expressed his disapproval at a passage in a new trio, and ordered Boccherini to change it. The composer, no doubt irritated with this intrusion into his art, doubled the passage instead, which led to his immediate dismissal. Then he accompanied Don Luis (theInfante) toArenas de San Pedro, a little town in theGredos Mountains inÁvila; there and in the nearest town ofCandeleda Boccherini wrote many of his most famous works.
Later patrons included the French ambassador to Spain,Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840), as well as KingFriedrich Wilhelm II ofPrussia (1744–1797), himself an amateur cellist,flautist, and avid supporter of the arts. Boccherini fell on hard times following the deaths of his Spanish patron (1785), his two wives (1785 and 1805), and his four daughters (1796, 1802 and 1804). He died in Madrid in 1805, survived by two sons.[9] His body lay buried in thePontifical Basilica of St. Michael in Madrid until 1927, when his remains were repatriated and buried in the church ofSan Francesco in his native Lucca.
Much of Boccherini'schamber music follows models established byJoseph Haydn; however, Boccherini is often credited with improving Haydn's model of the string quartet by bringing the cello to prominence, whereas Haydn had frequently relegated it to an accompaniment role. Some sources for Boccherini's style are in the works of a famous Italian cellist,Giovanni Battista Cirri, who was born before Boccherini and before Haydn.
A virtuoso cellist, Boccherini often played violin repertoire on the cello, atpitch, a skill he developed by substituting for ailing violinists while touring. This supreme command of the instrument brought him much praise from his contemporaries (notablyPierre Baillot,Pierre Rode, andBernhard Romberg), and is evident in the cello parts of his compositions (particularly in the quintets for two cellos, treated often as cello concertos withstring quartetaccompaniment).
He wrote a large amount of chamber music, including over one hundred string quintets for two violins, viola and two cellos (a type which he pioneered, in contrast with the then common scoring for two violins, two violas and one cello), a dozen guitar quintets, not all of which have survived, nearly a hundred string quartets, and a number ofstring trios andsonatas (including at least 19 for the cello). His orchestral music includes around 30symphonies and 12 virtuosocello concertos.
Boccherini's works have been catalogued by the FrenchmusicologistYves Gérard (1932–2020) in theGérard catalog, published in London (1969), hence the "G" numbers applied to his output.
Boccherini's style is characterized byRococo charm, lightness, and optimism, and exhibits much melodic and rhythmic invention, coupled with frequent influences from the guitar tradition of his adopted country, Spain.
Boccherini's music is heard in the 2003 feature filmMaster and Commander: The Far Side of the World.
(All performed by Jacques Lochet, violin and synthesiser.)
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