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Luigi Boccherini

Italian composer and cellist (1743–1805)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ189766
Source-derived summary

Ridolfo Luigi Boccherini (, also US: ; Italian: [riˈdɔlfo luˈiːdʒi bokkeˈriːni] ; 19 February 1743 – 28 May 1805) was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and galante style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major classical musical centers. He is best known for the minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), and the Cello Concerto in B♭ major (G 482). The latter work was long known in the heavily altered version by German cellist and prolific arranger Friedrich Grützmacher, but has recently been restored to its original version. He is also particularly well known for his Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid (Night Music of the Streets of Madrid).

Boccherini's output also includes several guitar quintets. The final movement of the Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D (G 448) is a fandango, a lively Spanish dance.

Biography

Boccherini was born into a musical family in Lucca, Italy in 1743.

Editorial summary

“Luigi Boccherini” enters the record as italian composer and cellist (1743–1805). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Luigi, Boccherini and Italian can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1743, 1805—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1743-02-19. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Luigi, Boccherini and Italian.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Luigi Boccherini” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Luigi, Boccherini and Italian provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q189766. VIAF identifies the subject as 89067361. The Library of Congress control number is n79107744. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1743 and 1805.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

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  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Luigi Boccherini”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Luigi Boccherini primary sources, Luigi Boccherini archive and Luigi research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Luigi Boccherini” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.