Birth

19th February 1743 Lucca, Italy

 

Death

28th May 1805 Madrid, Spain aged 62

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Musical era

Classical

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Family

Third child of a double bass player, Leopoldo Boccherini, and the brother of Giovanni Gastoni Boccherini, a notable poet and dancer who wrote librettos for Antonio Salieri and Joseph Haydn.

Important points from his life

At an early age he was put under the care of the musical director of the local cathedral then at 13, he was sent to Rome to study with the renowned cellist  Giovanni Battista Costanzi, musical director at Saint Peter’s Basilica. In 1757 Boccherini and his father were invited to play in the Imperial Theatre orchestra in Vienna. In 1760, aged 17, he made his debut as a composer there. In August 1764 he obtained a permanent position in Lucca with the local church and theatre orchestras. After the death of his father in Boccherini left Lucca for Paris, which was at that time particularly hospitable to Italian musicians.

 

Best known pieces

• String Quintet in E major No 5

• Cello Concerti

• Stabat Mater

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What has been said

‘If God wanted to speak to men through music, He would do it with the oeuvres of Haydn, but if He himself wished to listen to music, He would choose Boccherini.’

French Violin Master, Jean Baptiste Cartier

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‘Nothing could give me more pleasure, signor Boccherini, than to receive some of your compositions from your own hands and just at a time when I have begun to perform your instrumental work. It alone gives me full satisfaction and every day I enjoy that pleasure.’

King Frederick William II of Prussia

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