Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (,
also , ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
and
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
of the
Classical era
Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...
whose music retained a
courtly and ''
galante'' style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classical musical centers. He is best known for a
minuet
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''.
The term also describes the musical form tha ...
from his
String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (
G 275), and the
Cello Concerto in B flat major (G 482). The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger
Friedrich 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 a
fandango
Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...
, a lively Spanish dance.
Biography
Boccherini was born into a musical family in
Lucca
Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...
, Italy in 1743. He was the third child of Leopoldo Boccherini, a
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and
double-bass player, and the brother of Giovanni Gastone Boccherini, a poet and dancer who wrote
libretti for
Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian composer and teacher of the classical period (music), classical period. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subje ...
and
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
. 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.
When his son reached thirteen, Leopoldo Boccherini sent him to study in Rome with
Giovanni Battista Costanzi.
In 1757 Luigi Boccherini and his father both went to
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, where the court employed them as musicians in the
Burgtheater.

In 1768 Boccherini went to Madrid, entering in 1770 the employ of
Infante Luis Antonio of Spain (1727–1785), younger brother of King
Charles III of Spain
Charles III (; 20 January 1716 – 14 December 1788) was King of Spain in the years 1759 to 1788. He was also Duke of Parma and Piacenza, as Charles I (1731–1735); King of Naples, as Charles VII; and King of Sicily, as Charles III (or V) (1735� ...
. 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 (the
Infante
Infante (, ; f. ''infanta''), also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain (including the predecessor kingdoms of Aragon, Castile, Navarre, and León) and Portugal to the ...
) to
Arenas de San Pedro, a little town in the
Gredos Mountains in
Ávila; there and in the nearest town of
Candeleda Boccherini wrote many of his most famous works.
Later patrons included the French ambassador to Spain,
Lucien Bonaparte (1775–1840), as well as King
Friedrich Wilhelm II of
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
(1744–1797), himself an amateur cellist,
flutist
The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...
, 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. His body lay buried in the
Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael in Madrid until 1927, when his remains were repatriated and buried in the church of
San Francesco in his native Lucca.
Works
Much of Boccherini's
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...
follows models established by
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
; 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, at
pitch, a skill he developed by substituting for ailing violinists while touring. This supreme command of the instrument brought him much praise from his contemporaries (notably
Pierre Baillot,
Pierre Rode, and
Bernhard Romberg), and is evident in the cello parts of his compositions (particularly in the quintets for two cellos, treated often as cello concertos with
string quartet
The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...
accompaniment
Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of m ...
).
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 of
string trios and
sonatas
In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the Music history, history of music, designating a variety of ...
(including at least 19 for the cello). His orchestral music includes around 30
symphonies and 12 virtuoso
cello concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments.
These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...
s.
Boccherini's works have been catalogued by the French
musicologist
Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...
Yves Gérard (1932–2020) in the
Gérard catalog, published in London (1969), hence the "G" numbers applied to his output.
Boccherini's style is characterized by
Rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
charm, lightness, and optimism, and exhibits much melodic and rhythmic invention, coupled with frequent influences from the guitar tradition of his adopted country, Spain.
Recordings
* ''Complete Symphonies, Vol. I–VII'', Deutsche Kammerakademie Neuss, Johannes Goritzki, CPO 999401-2
* ''Cello Concertos'', Enrico Bronzi, Accademia I Filarmonici di Verona, Brilliant Classics 92618 (2005)
* ''Complete Flute Quintets, Vol. I–III'', Rafael Ruibérriz de Torres, Francisco de Goya String Quartet, Brilliant Classics 96074 (2021)
* ''Early Italian String Quartets'', String Quartet in C minor, op. 1 No. 2, Butter Quartet
* ''Guitar Quintets, Vol. I–III'', Zoltán Tokos, Danubius String Quartet, Naxos 8.503255
* ''String Quintets, Vol. I–X'', La Magnifica Comunita, Enrico Casazza, violin, Brilliant Classics 92503, 92889, 93076, 93346, 93566, 93820, 93744, 94002, 93977, 94961 (2005–2011)
Boccherini's music is heard in the 2003 feature film ''
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World''.
Media
(All performed by Jacques Lochet, violin and synthesiser.)
See also
*
Compositions by Luigi Boccherini
*
Romantic guitar
*
Louis Picquot
References
External links
Boccherini Studies*
Centro Studi Opera Omnia Luigi BoccheriniAssociation Luigi BoccheriniLuigi Boccherini 1743–1805*
*
ttp://www.boadilla.com/pages/boccherini.htm Luigi Boccherini More extensive biography
* Complete list of works a
University of Quebec Marked "under construction".
Trios, violins, violoncello, G. 83–88(From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)
Sonatas, harpsichord, violin, violoncello, G. 143–148(From the Sibley Music Library Digital Score Collection)
Luigi Boccherini Music Institute, Lucca*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boccherini, Luigi
1743 births
1805 deaths
Italian classical composers of church music
Musicians from Lucca
Italian Classical-period composers
18th-century Italian composers
18th-century Italian male musicians
Italian opera composers
Composers for cello
Composers for the classical guitar
Italian classical cellists
19th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Italian string quartet composers
Oratorio composers
19th-century Italian male musicians
Italian male opera composers
Tuberculosis deaths in Spain
Italian expatriates in Spain