THE T A R S

CHARLES MOSTERT wrote at least one of his tw o oratorios f or Cor respondent the oratorian congregation of Genoa. In his year w e celebrate the 200th September 1769 they left Genoa together, anniv ersary of a m usical birth intending to trav el to London b ut got T and death - that of tw o brilliant (1743-1805) sidetrack ed in Paris where they sta yed f or m usicians and who w ere ov er- six months. In Paris, where he pub lished shado w ed, one b y a more famous brother most of his w orks, Boccherini pub lished and the other, as in our hero’s case, b y some of his string as Op 2. an entire school of famous composers His onl y recorded pub lic perf ormance centred around . was at the Concert Spiritual in March In 1805, Fann y Mendelssohn was born 1768, where Manfredi pla yed one of his in the City of and Luigi Boccherini o wn and Boccherini a left f or the unkno wn. Boccherini will best b y himself. The Mercure de France be remembered f or his charming little praised his perf ormance. After a concert Min uet in G, which I am sure more people that Manfredi pla yed on the f ourth of April, could whistle than remember the name of as a cello soloist. In 1753 he left f or Rome both left Paris. On account of the Spanish its creator. Although I am certain that he to study the cello with famed cellist G B Ambassador’s promise of posts in the Italian himself was f ond of this min uet - his greatest Costanzi. He was back in b y the sum- Opera Compan y in Aranjuez, they changed hit, I am also con vinced that he w ould hav e mer of 1756, where he made his deb ut as their plans and trav elled to Madrid instead chosen rather to be remembered f or the cellist in a cello . For the next ten of London. On arrival in Madrid they w ere great oeuvre of exquisite chamber m usic he years he accompanied his father and sib lings appointed. left the w orld. touring various European cities, including The Compagnia dell Opera Italiana dei Ridolf o Luigi Boccherini was born on 19 Venice, Vienna, Florence, Rome and Genoa. Sito Reales enjoyed the patronage of Cro wn February 1743 in Lucca, (his first baptismal He encountered strong competition as a Prince Carlos, Prince of Asturias to whom name never seems to have been used), the third soloist in Vienna. Sources indicate that he Boccherini’s 6 trios, Op 6, are dedicated. child of musician Leopoldo Boccher ini. When did not appear at academies of the Impe- Boccherini remained a member of the com- one reads the history of the Boccherini fam- rial Court as often as other cellists in the pan y till 1770. il y, it is clear that ev ery member of the famil y city. Ho w ev er, in Florence, as the celebre After leaving the compan y he entered the was encouraged to dev elop their artistic Suonatore di Violincello he earned m uch service of Don Luis in Aranjues as com- talents and that not onl y Luigi made a name applause f or a concert of m usic b y himself, positore e virtuoso di camera. It is f or him f or himself in the arts. its mode of composition being described b y that he wrote most of his beautiful chamber His older brother Giovanni Gastone the diarist, who left an account of the ev ent, w orks, including his quartets Op 8. Here he embark ed on a career as a ballet dancer ‘of being a completel y new kind’. had the chance to experiment with diff erent and perf ormed in Venice, Trieste, Vienna and Neither Vienna, nor an y Italian city could genres of chamber w orks as w ell as varied man y other cities. Later he w ould become off er cello virtuosos at the time the means m usical instruments. Luigi created man y kno wn as a dramatic poet, as w ell as a comic to earn a living purel y as a soloist, conse- quartets, quintets and sextets f or strings with librettist. He created libretti f or both quentl y during a time of intensiv e creativ- additional flute parts, oboe parts as w ell as and Florian Gassman and ity (1760-1761) Boccherini wrote his first guitar. His guitar quintets are some of the was also the librettist f or Joseph Ha ydn’s significant compositions, a set of trios Op most beautiful and inspired chamber m usic oratorio, Il Ritorno di Tobia. 1, quartets Op 2 and duets Op 3. In April of the genre and of its time. Luigi’s elder sister, Maria Ester became 1764 an application f or a post as cellist in From the seclusion of Las Arenas, a successful solo dancer and w ork ed with the Cappella Palativa at Lucca was granted Boccherini made energetic eff orts to resume Gluck. She perf ormed as prima ballerina in as w ell as a commission to compose a can- contact with the outside m usical w orld. Bologna, Venice and Florence betw een 1753 tata f or the election f estivities in 1765. This He set up a b usiness relationship with the and 1777. indicated that he was b y then recognised pub lishing firm of in Vienna in 1780 Luigi’s introduction to m usic and m usic as a . He also joined a and entered into a short correspond- education was initiated b y his father and with three other virtuoso soloists, J Manfredi ence with Joseph Ha ydn, whom he greatl y later he w ould attend the Archiepiscopal (with whom he w ould k eep a long-time admired. In 1783 he sent compositions, Seminario di S Martino in Luca where he friendship as w ell as a m usical partnership), written in his o wn hand, to Cro wn Prince receiv ed comprehensiv e m usical training P Nardini and G Cambini. Frederich Wilhelm of Prussia, who was an from the maestro di cappella and cellist D Soon after his father’s death in 1760, Luigi enthusiastic cellist. The prince replied that Vann ucci. He receiv ed tuition in theory, and Manfredi left f or Genoa where they he was interested in more w orks, b ut due to composition, singing and cello and excelled enjoyed the patronage of the nobility. He contractual ob ligations with Don Luis (which

 Kaapse Bibl., Mei/Junie 2005 15 stated that he may only compose for Don Compact disc titles in stock Luis), he could only send the prince some of his earlier compositions. Bahr, Gunilla von. Solflojt 4 = Sun-flute 4. In 1785 both his patron and his wife Beethoven, Ludwig van. Concerto for piano, died. Although sad, this freed him from his violin, cello & in C, op. 56. contract with Don Luis and although he The Best Baroque album in the world received a annual pension of 12 000 reals, he -- ever! was appointed compositeur de notre cham- The Best of Naxos, 7: Klassisches Menu. bre to Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, Boccherini, Luigi. Quintets IV, V, & VI for who was crowned as King Fredrich Wilhelm & guitar. II in the same year. He chose, however, to Boccherini, Luigi. Sonate per fortepiano con stay in Madrid and therefore received his accompagnamento di un violin, opera V. annual salary of 1 000 reals by post. For - precious moments. this, he sent his new patron 12 instrumental works a year, most of them string quartets Du Pre, Jacqueline. Die schönsten Cel- and quintets. lokonzerte = Favourite cello concer- tos = Les plus celebres concertos From March 1786 onwards he was also pour violoncelle. engaged in Madrid at a salary of 1 000 reals a month as director de orquestra y Haydn, Joseph. in D. compositor by Maria Josefa Alfonsa Pimentel, Lotti, Helmut. Helmut Lotti goes Duchess-Countess of Benavente and Duch- classic - final edition. ess of Osuna, a notable patron of music. Ac- The Maiden’s prayer: leaves from cording to the writings of an English writer, grandmother’s piano album. William Beckford, he was still in her service McFerrin, Bobby. Paper music. at the end of 1787. Tamassy, Eva. Flute favourates. The last nine years of his life was troubled by illness and misfortune. His unmarried Bibliography daughter Joaquina, died at the age of 25 in 1796. The same year he entered into nego- Grove, George. The Grove concise dictionary of music.- Macmillan, c1988. tiations with the publisher Pleyel. After brief negotiations with the publisher he sold 58 works for 7 200 Reals. In 1797, his patron 2 0 0 5 Friedrich Wilhelm II died unexpectedly and his successor declined his re-instatement as well as a pension. He then had to sell another 110 works to Pleyel for 9 600 Reals. The patronage of the house of Benevente-Osuna also came to an end when the duke and duchess moved to Paris in 1799. It was at this time that he started to turn more to the composition of vocal works. He finally found a new patron in November 1800 in the French Ambassa- dor, . Boccherini organ- ised musical performances and continued writing works dedicated to him even after Bonaparte was recalled from Spain in 1801. In 1802 Bonaparte granted Boccherini a pension of 3 000 francs a year. Towards the end of his life, Boccherini’s financial circumstances were modest and his health poor. He gave up composition in 1804 and later died in 1805 of peritoneal tuberculosis.

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