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

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¨Boccherini, who is still living at Madrid, and whose instrument is the violoncello, though he writes but little at present, has perhaps supplied the performers on bowed-instruments and lovers of Music with more excellent compositions than any master of the present age, except Haydn¨. Dr. Burney, writing in the 1780’s, was not given to exaggeration or thoughtless praise; and his assessment of Boccherini’s reputation can hardly be construed as a slight upon Haydn. Later historians compared Boccherini with Mozart, but the fact is that his Italo-Iberian language had less in common with the Viennese chamber-music classics than we generally think. Boccherini’s admiration for Haydn was certainly returned with interest, and Mozart’s knowledge of the quintets is reflected in his experiments and successes with this most sonorous and delectable of string textures. But Boccherini the composer stands as a figure pre-eminent in his own right, full of courtly charm and elegance, virtuosic resource, and inventive genius.
Although both scientific musicology and garrulous anecdotage have, at one time or another, saddled famous composers with the title of “inventor” of this or that form or style, Boccherini cannot be proved the inventor of the string quartet, the piano quintet, or the quintet for the symmetrical combination of two violins, viola, and two cellos. Careful hunting will always disclose lurking precursors. But there is no doubt that Boccherini brought these particular instrumental works to a pitch of perfection unknown before him, and only rarely surpassed afterwards. An exhaustive catalogue of his works is still lacking (though it is rumored that one is well on the way to completion), so that the connoisseur is obliged to accept figures such as 102 string quartets, and 113 two-cello quintets. Actually these figures may not be far wrong, for Boccherini began to compose when he was a teenager and was silenced only by death half a century later. Fifty years spent in the leisurely court life of the eighteenth century must have afforded ample opportunity for composition, and there is no indication that Boccherini ever shirked his duties. His career had its ups and downs, to be sure, but he seemed to possess a plentiful measure of hardy resilience, and it was only at the very end of his life that he suffered real penury.
His first encounter with Spain was by no means easy, yet the lack of interest displayed by Charles III and the Prince of Asturias soon came to be balanced by the generous patronage of the Infante Don Luis. One of the quintets written for Don Luis painted a vivid musical picture of street sounds in Madrid, with the tolling of bells, dancing and singing, and the sounds of the curfew. In general, however, Boccherini looked down upon local tastes and customs, feeling it his bounden duty to elevate the musical mentalities of his Spanish audience. An eccentric English traveller was his undoing.
In 1787, William Beckford met Boccherini at a soirée in the town house of a rich merchant, where a small orchestra was playing dignified music. Beckford, encouraged by the Archbishop of Toledo to perform a Spanish dance, launched into a bolero, the musicians seizing their guitars in sympathy. Boccherini was horrified: “If you dance and they play in this ridiculous manner, I shall never be able to introduce a decent style into our musical world here, which I flattered myself I was on the very point of doing.” Fortunately, the eccentric Englishman disappeared, leaving Boccherini to his missionary work. His success may have been small, but the side-product of that success leaves no room for doubt. His chamber music for strings is wonderful to play and fascinating to listen to; and these quintets show him at the peak of his powers.
DENNIS STEVENS
Professor of Music, Columbia University
The artists assembled for this recording are all soloists of national and international prestige. Together, they meet the musical challenge provided by the Boccherini Quintets with playing which is virtuosic and yet mindful of the over-all needs of the ensemble.
ARNOLD EIDUS, a native New Yorker, studied at the Juillard School of Music, and made his debut as a thirteen year old in New York. This was followed by seven yearly recitals in Carnegie Hall. Winner of the Jacques Thibaud International Competition for violinists, he has been soloist with the leading orchestras of the world, including the N. Y. Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl, Vienna Symphony, Budapest Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, and the Paris Conservatory orchestras.
RAOUL POLIAKIN, born in Cairo, Egypt of Russian parents, received his B.S. degree from Paris University, and the B.S. and M.A. degrees from Columbia University. Studied violin under René Benedetti of the Paris Conservatoire, and conducting under Pierre Monteux. Was Assistant Conductor under André Kostelanetz. Produced records with Leopold Stokowski, William Steinberg, Josef Krips, Eugene Goossens, Igor Markevitch, Aaron Copland, Villa-Lobos and others for some of the leading record publishers.
DAVID MANKOVITZ was born in New York and graduated from Juilliard School of Music. He did postgraduate work under Leopold Auer. Was associated with leading chamber music organizations, and broadcast as member of the Perole String Quartet for ten years over the WOR network. Was soloist with the CBS Symphony in first radio performance of Milhaud’s Viola Concerto. Was member of the Dorian String Quartet and of the New York String Quartet, Kroll Sextet, Stradivari String Quartet and Stradivari String Trio, and is still associated with the last two ensembles. Member of tne faculty, Music University of Toronto and Royal Conservatory of Music. Recorded for Columbia, Stradivari, Epic Records and others. Performs on an Amati viola built in 1622.
GEORGE RICCI was born in San Francisco, and made his debut at Carnegie Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra, performing the Saint-Saens Concerto at the age of twelve. Mr. Ricci has studied with Alfred Wallenstein, Naoum Benditzky, and Diran Alexanian. He has appeared as soloist in Town Hall and Carnegie Hall on many occasions, and has performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, and other leading orchestras throughout the United States. He has also made many notable appearances on national television and radio programs as solo cellist with the American Broadcasting Concert Orchestra.
HARVEY SHAPIRO is a graduate of the Julliard School of Music. He is a winner of the Naumberg Prize. Member of the famous Primrose Quartet and of the WQXR String Quartet, Mr. Shapiro for the past two years has been First Cellist of the NBC Symphony.
Musical Heritage Society (MHS 645 / MHS 694) 1966

[@laughingseagull000]

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[@johnlapin3522]

My favorite of the Italian Composers.