Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805): 6 String Quintets

00:00 Quintet Opus 13 No.5 in E major: Amoroso, Allegro con spirito - Minuetto - Rondó 20:50 Quintet Opus 20 No.4 in D minor: Allegro - Andante - Allegro giusto 36:48 Quintet Opus 37 No.2 in D major: Allegro con un poco di moto - Minuetto & Trio - Finale 47:39 Quintet Opus 37 No.1 in C minor: Molto lento (Grave assai), Allegro assai - Andantino con innocenza - Minuetto - Grave assai, Allegro assai, come prima 1:05:18 Quintet in C major: Andante con moto - Minuetto - Largo cantabile - Rondó: Allegro con moto 1:21:11 Quintet Opus 47 No.1 in A minor: Allegro non molto - Minuetto - Largo cantabile - Finale: Allegro giusto THE STRADIVARI QUINTET Arnold EIDUS, Violin / Raoul POLIAKIN, Violin David MANKOVITZ, Viola / George RICCI, Cello Harvey SHAPIRO, Cello, Assisting Artist Dr. Michael NAIDA, Musical Director Arte: Un paseo a la orilla del Estanque del Retiro (1780), por José del Castillo (1737-1793) The Italian musical conquest of Spain in the last half of the 18th century is one of the more interesting developments of European. musical history. A number of Italy’s outstanding musicians, including the famed Domenico Scarlatti, traveled to Madrid, and eventually became the dominant force in the musical world at the Spanish capital. The influence of these cultural emissaries was to be felt there for over a hundred years, as the character of musical composition became less Spanish and increasingly Italian in nature. Born in Lucca in 1743, Luigi Boccherini became a virtuoso of the violoncello at an early age. He gave concerts throughout Italy and France, and it was after one of his extended tours that he was invited to Madrid by the Infante Don Luis de Borbón, brother of King Carlos III of Spain. Here he was to remain, except for a short term in the service of Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, until his death in 1805. His career in Madrid was not entirely successful, as he lacked the grace and finesse necessary to remain in a position of favor with his patrons. His unwillingness to conform to the standards of court protocol led to his eventual disgrace, and he was forced to seek refuge under the patronage of Lucien Buonaparte, Ambassador to the Spanish Court from France. In return for the Ambassador’s kindness, he was required to compose at least six quintets a year. It was during this period that a large number of his nearly one hundred quintets was produced. Boccherini possessed the finest technique among the cellists of his day, and his writing for the cello reflects his intimate knowledge and command of the instrument. The bass parts of his quintets and quartets display rich flowing melodies and intricate harmonies unknown in the works of his contemporaries. For the first time in musical history, the violoncello is given not only an accompaniment role but a solo role as well. The melodic line in his chamber works is alternately placed with the violin, viola, and the cello, making for a variety of color lacking until then. His writing for strings is at once bold, masterly, and elegant. Although an expert and prolific composer of symphonies and concerti, his outstanding compositions are the two hundred odd string quartets and quintets. His innate sense of thematic organization and style greatly contributed to the crystallization of their formal structure. Mozart, who brought these forms to their complete fruition, treated the Boccherini Quintet as a model, substituting the second viola in place of the latter’s second ’cello. Being so closely associated with courtiers and nobility, and all of their superficiality and surface elegance, Boccherini’s music possesses great charm and finesse which, if not terribly profound, is always pleasing and extremely agreeable. The Quintet in E major consists of three movements. The first of these opens with a short introduction marked Amoroso followed by the Allegro con spirito characterized by thematic imitation among the various instruments and a rhythmic ostinato played by the first cello. The second movement, entitled Minuetto in A major, contains a delightful trio based on a question and answer theme developed between the upper and lower voices. The final movement is a Rondó remarkable for its intricate rhythms and virtuosic treatment of the instruments. The Quintet in D minor opens with a vigorous Allegro — which is in contrast to the lyrical Andante in B-flat major of the second movement. The closing movement is a brilliant fugue marked Allegro giusto. The first movement of the Quintet in D major is designated Allegro con un poco di moto. A Minuetto in B-flat major with its Trio in E-flat forms the second movement. The dramatic Finale, a swiftly moving allegro, brings the work to a close. Notes by JAMES DAVIS