Luigi Boccherini: More Than a One-Hit Wonder

A painting of a lute, cello, violin, guitar, musical manuscript and books on a draped table by an unknown artist. Oil on canvas; 27 11/12 inches by 38 1/12 inches. Public Domain

Luigi Boccherini has been called “the greatest Italian composer of the Classical era.” This may sound like a large claim, until considering that the most famous composers of this era are all German. Italians tend to get short shrift.

A contemporary of Haydn and Mozart, Boccherini was just as prolific as they were. Unlike them, he’s largely remembered for just one piece, and that doesn’t do justice to the rest of his output.

A Huge Output

Boccherini was born in Lucca, Tuscany, in 1743. He started learning cello at age 5 from his father, who was the first double-bass soloist in history. The boy began making public appearances at 13, touring Vienna and Paris.

"Luigi Boccherini playing the violoncello," between circa 1764 and circa 1767, by Pompeo Batoni. National Gallery of Victoria, Australia. Public Domain

After completing his education, Boccherini embarked on a distinguished career as a court musician. He spent much of his adult life in Madrid, Spain, with his wife and five children. As a composer, he was in great demand for many years. One of his Spanish patrons was the Duchess of Benavente-Osuna. In 1786, as director of her orchestra, he gave a concert while dressed in a costume of “rich silk velvet and white satin.”

His oeuvre is vast. During his years of employment in royal courts, Boccherini maintained a strict compositional routine. His longest work stint was under the Spanish Infante Louis de Borbon, the brother of King Charles III. Boccherini’s contract stipulated that he would write 18 works a year or six works in three different genres. He upheld this bargain for 15 years. After Borbon died, Boccherini transitioned to a position in the Prussian court, working for King Frederick William II. Under his new contract, he wrote one composition a month for 12 years.

Yves Gérard’s catalogue, prepared in 1969, lists more than 500 works by Boccherini. Most of these fall into the category of chamber music: trios, quartets, quintets, and sextets. He also wrote around 30 symphonies (for small and large orchestras) and numerous vocal works.

The Famous Minuet

Of all his works, one piece is performed far more often than any of the others. Actually, just one portion of one piece: the third movement of his String Quintet in E major, G. 275. A lively minuet in 3/4 time, its charming melody has made it popular beyond the concert hall. It has appeared in many films and television shows.

Most notably, it served as a comedic motif in the 1955 British film “The Ladykillers,” where a band of criminals disguise themselves as a cultured string quintet to gain admittance into the home of an elderly widow, Mrs. Wilberforce, whom they plan to bamboozle. In one scene, the gang plays Boccherini’s minuet on a record player while Mrs. Wilberforce listens in the next room, oblivious their instruments are sitting idle on the furniture. As the minuet is repeated throughout the film, its rhythmic pace emphasizes the frantic incompetence of their charade.

Master of the Cello

Boccherini would no doubt be dismayed that his widest cultural influence has been in the context of farce. Unfortunately, he’s also acquired a reputation as a “simple” composer compared to his contemporaries Haydn and Mozart. He’s even been dismissed as “Haydn’s wife.” While the two Germans’ melodies had complex themes, Boccherini tended to rely more straightforwardly on lyrical phrases. In this, Boccherini adhered to the tastes of the Spanish court, which was isolated from more “modern” musical developments occurring around Vienna.

But Boccherini did more than just compose simple, elegant melodies. He developed innovations in chamber music. He was one of the first to compose string quartets where each instrument type had a solo part integral to the piece’s structure, rather than just accompanying the first violin. His cello compositions, in particular, are virtuosic. As a master of the instrument, he has even been credited with “discovering its solo potential” and transforming “the caterpillar of the violin family into a butterfly.”

Manuscripts written by Boccherini, such as these operas, survive to the present day. Public Domain

His specific innovations on the cello were to expand the range of the thumb’s position, write passages more rapid than any previous composer, and extend the use of double stops (playing two notes at the same time). He occasionally called for three or four strings to be played simultaneously.

The ‘Other’ Parts of String Quintet, G. 275

Boccherini’s innovations can be seen in the other three movements of his String Quintet in E Major, G. 275. They have more complex structures than the work’s famous minuet. The complexity is especially notable in the final movement. The first “Allegro” movement features a lively counterpoint where the first violin leads, and the viola and second violin respond in a playful way.

While Boccherini’s loud movements are festive and happy, his softer pieces have a melancholy quality. This is evident in the second “Grave” movement of G. 275, where Boccherini wrote a contemplative, lyrical melody for the first cello, surrounded by lush supporting voices. One of the unique features of Boccherini’s slow movements, as Dutch cellist Anner Bylsma has observed, is that he used “many different descriptions for ‘soft’: piano, pianissimo, suave, amorosa, mezzo voce” in his scores.

After the third movement’s minuet, the fourth “Rondeau” movement again has the first cello establishing the melody as the other strings create a layered counterpoint of exchanges.

Death and Legacy

Boccherini’s final years were filled with poverty and grief. In 1798, he lost the financial support of his royal patrons when Frederick William II declined to extend his pension. Then in 1802, an epidemic whisked away two of his daughters. In 1804, his third daughter and second wife died (his first wife had died in 1785). Although he still had two surviving sons, he reportedly lost the will to play and even to live. He died in 1805 of tuberculosis.

This depiction of Boccherini by Etienne Mazas gives the viewer clues about the personality of the almost-forgotten composer. Public Domain

Historian Margaret Campbell, in “The Great Cellists,” called Boccherini “The forgotten genius” of that instrument. Bylsma considered him the greatest cellist of all time.

Though he is seen as a one-hit wonder today, Boccherini’s mastery of his chosen instrument and innovations in chamber music elevated his string pieces to expressive new heights.

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