Notes for: July 23, 2019
Like the other composers on today’s program, the virtuoso cellist and prolific composer Luigi Boccherini was widely acclaimed during his lifetime. The 18th-century music historian Charles Burney called him “among the greatest masters who have ever written for the violin or violoncello.” Boccherini composed hundreds of chamber-music works, with prominent roles for the cello. He was influential in the development of the string quartet, and he was the first to write string quintets that featured two cellos.
Like many 18th-century musicians, Boccherini began at an early age to travel from country to country in his quest to make a living as a musician. A cello prodigy, at 13 he made his debut in his home town, Lucca, then went with his cellist father to perform in Vienna, where his playing was admired. At 22 he went with a friend to Paris, where he found a publisher for his early trios and quartets, and where his compositions and his bravura cello performances were widely lauded. While in Paris he was encouraged by the Spanish ambassador to go to Spain. There he found a patron, the infante Don Luis, brother of the Spanish king, who appointed Boccherini “virtuoso of the chamber and composer of music” in his court. The court also had an excellent string quartet, to which Boccherini added a second cello, thereby creating the quintet combination for which he became best known.
Boccherini spent the rest of his life in Spain. In 1798 a Spanish nobleman who was an amateur guitarist commissioned him to produce a series of quintets for guitar. As was customary at the time, Boccherini simply rearranged several of his earlier quintets, substituting a guitar for the second cello. The D Major Guitar Quintet, which is taken from two earlier quintets, happily demonstrates the qualities for which Boccherini was admired. The opening Pastorale charms and soothes with its sweet melody played by muted strings, and with its gently swaying rhythm. Unlike the first movements of the Viennese Classical composers, with their focus on thematic development, Boccherini’s focus is on melody, texture, and color. His virtuosic instrumental writing propels the lively Allegro maestoso, which features the cello climbing to its upper registers while the other instruments provide rich textural accompaniments. Then comes a slow, Grave introduction to the crowning Fandango, a dashing movement that reflects the impact of Boccherini’s adopted country on his music. The fandango was a popular, sensuous two-person dance in 18th-century Spain, and Boccherini here captures all its rhythmic passion and verve. Just as the pair of dancers accompanied themselves with castanets, Boccherini adds castanet rhythms to his score. It’s hard to resist snapping along.