Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)

Luigi Boccherini was born into a musical family in Lucca, Italy. He went to Rome to study in 1757 and moved to the Spanish royal court in Madrid in 1769. Boccherini was later employed by Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and Lucien Bonaparte. A virtuoso cellist, Boccherini is best known for his string quartets, and his compositions were greatly influenced by Haydn. Boccherini did deviate from Haydn's style by giving increased prominence to the cello in his quartet writing. Boccherini wrote over 200 string quartets and quintets, a number of guitar quintets, and also symphonies.