BOCCHERINI, LUIGI

born Feb. 19, 1743, Lucca died May 28, 1805, Madrid, Spain in full Luigi Rodolfo Boccherini Italian composer and cellist who influenced the development of the string quartet as a musical form and who composed the first music for a quintet for strings, as well as a quintet with strings and piano. His approximately 500 works also include sacred music, symphonies, and concerti. Additional reading Germaine de Rothschild, Luigi Boccherini: His Life and Work (1965), a biography, incorporates much new information. A companion work, Yves Grard (comp.), Thematic, Bibliographical, and Critical Catalogue of the Works of Luigi Boccherini (1969), includes 580 compositions.