String Quintet No. 5 in E Major

Although little of Boccherini’s music is performed regularly today, during his lifetime he was considered one of the few composers comparable to Haydn and Mozart. An inspired melodist, he possessed the rare gift of extracting the maximum amount of brilliance from the minimum of technique. His deftly sparkling instrumentation, insatiable joie de vivre and keen sense of enchantment epitomise the 18th-century period known as the Rococo or Galante. Yet despite being highly prolific, Boccherini appears destined to be remembered principally for one single piece of the more than 100 string quintets he composed: the infectiously charming “Minuet” from his String Quintet in E, the fifth in a set of six quintets Op. 11, published in 1775. Scored for two violins, viola and two cellos (Boccherini was a gifted cellist and liked to play along with Spanish Infante Don Luis’ in-house quartet), the four-movement Quintet consists of a radiantly affectionate “Amoroso”; a vivacious “Allegro con spirito”; the celebrated “Minuet”, with its catchy, gently syncopated rhythms; and an enchanting “Rondeau” finale.