Luigi Boccherini

Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (Luca, Tuscany, February 19, 1743-Madrid, May 28, 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist who had settled in Spain since he was twenty-five, where he developed the greatest part of his career as a composer. Aesthetically he belongs to the gallant style.

Biography

Beginnings

He was born on February 19, 1743 in Lucca, Tuscany, into a family of artists, where he was able to develop his vocation. His father was a double bassist and cellist and his sister was a ballet dancer. His brother Giovanni Gastone initially participated in the corps de ballet, but later devoted himself to poetry and writing, writing libretti for Antonio Salieri and Joseph Haydn.

Boccherini was interested in the cello from an early age. His father gave him his first classes. Subsequently, Boccherini mastered his instrument under the tutelage of Domenico Francesco Vannuci (1718-75), cellist, teacher of harmony and counterpoint, as well as composer of sacred music. He progressed so much that in the Lucca festivals of 1756 he recorded his participation as a cellist, with only fourteen years of age. His name was also recorded as a chapel musician, playing cello and double bass, in the Lucca yearbooks dating from April 22, 1755.

Travel

His father, impressed by Luigi's abilities, sends him to Rome to study with Giovanni Battista Costanzi, a famous composer at the time, author of operas and sacred music. There he became acquainted with the work of Palestrina and Allegri, whose famous Miserere impressed the young musician. In 1757, after completing his studies at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, he accompanied his father, who had managed to obtain places for both of them at the Austrian imperial court in Vienna and even for his sisters Maria Ester, Anna Matilda and his brother Giovanni. Gaston at the ballet. In 1758, on the first of three trips to Vienna that he would make during his lifetime, he played soloist in the court theater together with his father, in the context of the Musikalische Fasten-Accademien.

Boccherini returned to Lucca around 1760 hoping to gain fame in his hometown. During this stay in Lucca he composed several oratorios, as well as the six symphonies or quartets op. 2 and 3, six duets and six trios of his op.1, which were published by La Chevadière in Paris in 1761, where he held the position of director of chapel music.

In Lucca, Boccherini's patron was Giacomo Puccini (1712-81), director of the State Chapel, organist at the cathedral and at the Accademico Filarmonico in Bologna. Documents show that Boccherini repeatedly appeared as a soloist at the Santa Croce festivals and in church concerts until 1764. At that time he held the post of cellist in the State Chapel from April 27, 1764. However, just two years after his father's death, Boccherini stepped down and left Lucca.

In 1765 Boccherini settled in Milan and began a concert tour with a string quartet (which for this time represents a novelty) created in 1764 with the violinists Pietro Nardini and Filippo Manfredi, Tartini's pupil, and Giuseppe the viola Cambini. His repertoire is made up of works by Haydn, Boccherini himself and other contemporary composers. Between 1764 and 1768 he composed two oratorios: Giuseppe riconosciuto and Gioas, re di Giudea . Given the acceptance that his chamber training was having, he decided to embark on a journey that was to take him through the main cultural centers of Europe, between the end of 1762 and the beginning of 1763. Both embarked on a concert tour, where they visited Turin, some cities from Lombardy, Piemonte and southern France. It is also known that he visited some cities in Italy, such as Modena on January 7, 1763, as well as Pavia and Cremona in July 1765, where he met Giovanni Battista Sammartini.

In 1767 he settled in Paris, with his second violin Filippo Manfredi, where he published some quartets op. 1 and trios op. 2. Boccherini's music was already known when he arrived thanks to the fact that his works had been published years before, such as the Lucca trios, published by La Chevardèrie, and some quartets published by Venier. He was well received by the public during his stay. The Mercure de France wrote about the only documented concert from this period: the spiritual concert on March 20, 1768.

Meet Madame Brillon de Jouay, to whom he dedicates his six sonatas for violin and piano op.5, published by Venier in February 1769. Some of his works composed during his stay in Paris were: Quartets op. 2, dedicated to Venier; six sonatas for violin and piano op. 5, which he dedicates to Madame Brillon de Jouay and were published by Venier in February 1769. Several oratorios, six symphonies and quartets, and six duets.

Boccherini decides to go to Spain somewhat hastily, perhaps because he fell in love with the singer Clementina Pelliccia (whom he would end up marrying), who performed as a soprano in the opera company of the Bolognese Luigi Marescalchi. Boccherini also enrolled in it, joining the trip that said company had programmed to Spain, at the beginning of the spring of 1768. Within the framework of the programs established by Marescalchi, he participated in the Company's actions before the Court and in other cities. like Valencia. There is nothing that can support the often repeated justification for this change of plans based on some supposed and never materialized letters of recommendation from the Spanish ambassador in Paris. It was love and not expediency that pushed Boccherini to undertake a trip to the south.

The traditional version of his transfer to Spain supposes that there was a contact with the Spanish ambassador in Paris, Joaquín Anastasio Pignatelli, and he convinced Boccherini and Manfredi to move to Madrid under the protection of the infant Luis Antonio de Borbón y Farnesio, little brother of King Carlos III. The truth is that Manfredi stayed for a while in Paris and Boccherini was slow to be appointed musician for the Infante, while his first activities in Spain were linked to the Marescalchi opera company and other musicians.

The Duchess of Osuna and Countess of Benavente, María Josefa Pimentel, was one of the patrons of Boccherini.

Establishment in Spain

During his first years in Spain, he worked as an instrumentalist in the Royal Sites Theater Company (1768-1769).

In 1770, Boccherini was appointed cellist and composer in the Royal Chapel of the Infante Luis Antonio. With this appointment begins the stage of greatest musical creation of the artist. Around 1770 he began to compose chamber music, string quartets and quintets, works with which he has been widely associated. All of his works composed since his arrival in Madrid (including his six op. 6 quartets) and until the death of the infant, included the inscription “To H.R.H Don Luis, Infante de España”.

Yves Gérard estimates that Boccherini had written around a hundred works when in 1770 he formally entered the service of Don Luis de Borbón. Before this date, he had basically been a virtuoso and his early output includes mostly works for his own instrument (cello).

In 1776, the infant Luis Antonio de Borbón contracted morganatic nuptials with María Teresa de Vallabriga and was forced to retire to Arenas de San Pedro in the province of Ávila. The prince settled first in the Velada palace and later in the Mosquera palace, in the town of Arenense, and took his entire orchestra with him. Despite this isolation, Boccherini was able to make his music known throughout Europe thanks to the contact he had with the big publishing houses.

The year 1785 changed his life substantially: his wife Clementina died in Arenas de San Pedro, and months later, on August 7, his employer Don Luis. After his death, Boccherini requests that the income he received from him not be withdrawn, to which King Carlos III agrees, naming him violon of the Royal Chapel, although without taking possession of the square. waiting for a vacancy.

Boccherini returns to Madrid alone and with six children: Joaquina, Luis Marcos, José Mariano, María Teresa, Mariana and Isabel. Once restored, he gets two important patronages: through the Prussian ambassador, Boccherini sent some of his works to the King of Prussia, which he dedicated to him; and within a short period of time, the composer received a letter from the king. In a court decree dated January 21, 1786, he is named court composer for Frederick William II of Prussia, who was an amateur cellist and was his patron between 1786 and 1797; it is believed that he left shortly thereafter. Spain to live in Potsdam and Breslau, and had an intimate relationship with members of the court.

In 1786 he entered the service of María Josefa Pimentel, Duchess of Osuna and Countess of Benavente (1752–1834) as conductor of her orchestra and composer, and from 1787 he established his residence in the capital.

Around 1796 he began his correspondence with the Parisian publisher Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) and also worked for the Marquis de Benavente, an amateur guitarist.

In 1797, Boccherini married María del Pilar Joaquina Porretti, daughter of the cellist and former friend of his, Domingo Porretti.

In the first months of 1801 he worked for the French ambassador to Spain, Lucien Bonaparte (1775-1840), to liven up the evenings at his official residence, the palace of San Bernandino. He wrote several works that he dedicated to Bonaparte, such as the six piano quintets in 1799, the & # 39; stabat mater & # 39; in 1800 and 12 quintets for two violins, two violas and cello in 1802.

Despite staying in Madrid for most of his life, most of Boccherini's work, including autograph manuscripts and copies, is preserved in Berlin and Paris. Part of the explanation is due to the fact that his works were intended to be published outside of Spain, so his manuscripts were sent to English, French or German publishers.

Only two prints with music by Boccherini are known to have been produced by Madrid printers, which were his six duets for two violins (G.56-61) and six string trios dedicated to the Prince of Asturias (G.89-94).

Decay and death

The sudden abandonment of the patronage of María Josefa Pimentel and the death of Federico Guillermo II of Prussia in 1797 caused Boccherini to decline in the last years of his life. Distraught by the misfortunes of the loss of his children and his second wife, and despite the help of the French ambassador Luciano Bonaparte, he died on May 28, 1805, at the age of 62. Although it is believed that he died poor, a recent study of his will, carried out by one of his direct descendants, shows that he did not die rich but he did die with money and not in poverty.

Boccherini was buried in the church of Santos Justo y Pastor on Calle del Sacramento in Madrid, today the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel. In 1927 Mussolini took the composer's remains to Lucca to be buried in the church of San Francesco, in the pantheon of the illustrious sons of that Tuscan city. His descendants continue to live in Spain.

Boceto de Luigi Boccherini, by Etienne Mazas.

Work

Although his work has been classified within the gallant style, according to violinist Carlos Gallifa "his music has nothing frivolous, it is composed of a minor key, which gives it great depth". He is an autumnal, nostalgic composer, influenced by those gardens of domesticated nature such as Aranjuez or La Granja, palatial luxury in the French style, where enlightened rationalism tried to overcome what was then considered natural chaos.

Despite having been a virtuoso, Boccherini left no information about his technique in a cello method. He also did not spawn his own cello school.Some of his compositions for his cello have raised the suspicion that Boccherini might have used a 5-string instrument, such as the sonata 'L'. 39;Imperatrice.

Some aspects of Boccher's life and work are somewhat conflictive, especially in the chronological dating of his works. The important catalog of the French musicologist Yves Gérard constitutes one of the best references to date. The total proposed by Gérard includes 26 sonatas for cello and bass, and 8 to 9 concertos for cello and orchestra. Christian Speck discovered other sonatas that appear to be from the composer's earliest years, preserved in the archives of the monastery at Seitensetten, Austria. However, it is said that although the composer kept a catalog of all his works throughout his life as a composer, he never included those dedicated to the cello and which were of a virtuoso nature.

Alfredo Boccherini, a descendant of Luigi, published in 1879 some biographical notes on the composer and an important catalog of his works, second only to the one published by Yves Gérard in 1965. Had it not been for this, Boccherini's work would be today today practically disappeared. Thanks to this, it is now known that Luigi Boccherini gave an important boost to chamber music, leaving, among others:

• 124 string quintets
• 90 string quartets
• 48 three
• More than 21 sonatas for violet and continuous bass
• 28 symphonies
• 12 concerts for shilling and orchestra, of which the op. 34 deserves special attention in if bemol mayor, undoubtedly the best known and interpreted
• The zarzuela Clementina.
• His famous Night music of the streets of Madrid (Quinteto para cord en do mayor, Op. 30) is also remembered in Spain as a tune of the Spanish Television series Goya. In 1955 the gangsters who stayed in the pension of a old man in The quintet of death (The KadykillersAlexander Mackendrick, with Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, pretend to interpret the minué at Bocherini's largest Opus No. 5 while planning to steal the London Bank. It also sounded in a Supense film starring Al Pacino in 1980: Cruising (Hunting). It was part of the soundtrack of the film Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), starring Russell Crowe, comedy You will know the man of your dreamsWoody Allen (2010) and even the inaugural ceremony of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992, as well as the World Cup in Vela Santander in 2014.
• The Carols to the Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ: According to the catalogue of Gérard, they were composed in 1783. The work is preserved in particellas in the National Library from Madrid. The piece includes the parts Triple, Alto, Tenor, Basso, Violin 1 and 2, Viola, Violoncello and Accompaniment. Although it includes parts for wind instruments, unfortunately these parts have been lost. In the work as such it is not specifically included at the back; however, the part of the escort could easily be executed by one.
• Stabat Mater: it is a vocal work. Boccherini is thought to have composed this quintet thinking about the availability of orchestra instruments in the service of the infant, with the addition of a soprano voice, perhaps thinking of his own wife Clementina Pellicia. There are two versions of the work, which was requested directly by Don Luis in 1781, as reflected by the autograph annotation on the cover of the “second version” in 1800. “...Stabat Mater to thirteen. With il Semplice Accompagnamento di Due Soli Violini, Viola, Violoncello and Contrabasso. Composto da Luigi Boccherini. Note. Per advise di S.A.R. il Sign. Infante D. Luigi l’autore scrisse quest’ opera in Arenas l’anno 1781, ma per efvitare la monotonia di una solo voce per la quale fu scrito, e la troppa fatica a quest’ unica parte Cantante, la ha ordinata per 3 voci senza change l’Opera in niente... ”The “first version” is preserved in Washington, with a leaf at the beginning of the manuscript, reading: “...Stabat Mater de L. Boccherini, pour une voix seule (Soprano) aveccompagnement de 2 Violons, Viola, Violoncelle et Basse...”
• SixDivertimenti, op. 16 dated in 1773:

It is the first work by Boccherini composed in Spain, which includes the double bass. Numbered in Gérard's text as G 461-6. It corresponds to the period in which he was at the service of the infant Don Luis. The edition of these works was in charge of the Italian musicologist Aldo Pais. These are six works for due Violini,Flauto obbligato, Viola,due Violoncelli e Basso deRipieno. Named in the same manuscript as his Opera Prima.

The Conservatory Library Collection

14 manuscript works by L. Boccherini are kept:

• The incomplete series of G.183-188 quartets (not counting on fifth, G.187).
• The G.509-514 symphonies.
• Threesome for two violins and under G.77 dated in 1760 by Boccherini himself. The manuscript could be prior to arrival in Spain. In sources of the eighteenth century this work is considered the first of a series of trios numbered as opus 1.
• Transcription of the sonata for pianoforte and violin op. 5 no. 2, G.26.

Of the previous works, only the particellas have been preserved, with the exception of the symphony G.510.

The Eusebio Ruiz Collection

Eusebio Ruiz, born in 1828, was a music professor, Doctor of Jurisprudence and was librarian of the National School of Music during the years 1872-1878, in charge of arrangement and classification. In addition to this, he was a collector of 18th century music for bowed instruments, forming a private library that he later donated to the institution.

The series of manuscript quartets (G.183-188) and probably the symphonies (G.509-514) belonged to this collection; the quartets were composed by Boccherini in 1775, while in the service of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón.

Musical contributions

His contribution to the history of music is very important, since he was the mentor of the string quintet, in his case with double cello (it is assumed that he played the first one, adding himself to the traditional quartet formation). This form was used later and at the same time by Mozart.

Boccherini's language was characterized by refined string technique, mainly on the cello, asking for extreme positions (very sharp for the instrument), harmonics and even snare hits, elements that were claimed later in the century XX, albeit in a totally different musical context. The handling of the texture was his great contribution, through the thematic counterpoint used in a sublime way. These textures came to function, in his String and Guitar Quintets, as molds into which melody and harmony were inserted, giving the impression, when looking at the score, of "drawings" that changed each a relative number of bars. In addition, he had early forays into program music, as can be seen in the Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid, or in the Quintet Op. 11, La Uccelliera, where the song of the birds is represented.