Boccherini, Luigi Rodolfo

(1743-1805)

Italian composer, known for his chamber music and one of the earliest great cello virtuosos. Born in Lucca and trained in Rome, he played briefly in the orchestra of the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Sammartini and later became composer at the courts of Spain and Prussia.

 Most of his more than 350 works are trios, quartets, and quintets for strings. His compositions are marked by great elegance and refinement in the light, post-Baroque galant style popular at the time, and in many the cello part is especially prominent. Of his quintets, that in E major (op. 13 no. 5; also numbered as op. 11) is particularly known for its Minuet. His cello works include six sonatas for cello and basso continuo and four concertos.He composed two operas and a mass.