BOCCHERINI, LUIGI. - Musician, b. in Lucca on Sept. 19, 1743, d. in Madrid on May 28, 1805. He first studied in the seminary of Lucca with Abbot Vannucci, then in Rome. Having returned to his homeland, he left it bound for Spain, and on the journey through Italy he met with great success as a concert performer and composer. In Madrid (1769) he became composer and chamber virtuoso to the infante Don Luis. He also worked a great deal for the king of Prussia Frederick William. He wished to return to Paris, but poverty did not permit it. In 1927 his ashes were brought to Lucca and entombed in the church of St. Francis.
His sacred output, although not as vast as the rich harvest of his instrumental works, is made famous by certain masterpieces which, like the Stabat Mater for 3 voices with 2 violins, viola, cello and double bass (op. 61), suffice to bring glory to a name and to signify a style. This work, composed in 1800 and called the "swan song," is of a classical purity and at the same time of a pathetic coloring that bring it closer to the style of Pergolesi than of Rossini. In his early youth, in Lucca, B. also devoted himself to the oratorio with Giuseppe riconosciuto and Giose re di Giuda, performed in 1764; but unfortunately every trace of them has been lost. There are preserved, on the other hand, a mass for 4 voices with all instruments obbligato (op. 59, unpublished), and a Contata al S. Natale di N. S. Iesu Christo, for 4 obbligato voices, chorus and instruments, dedicated to the emperor of Russia (op. 63 [1803], unpublished); and there have recently been rediscovered: a Credo for 4 voices with orchestra (Parma, Bibl. Palatina), four motets and fragments of masses (Einsiedeln), as well as four sacred songs (noted by Eitner). Of the Stabat, besides the edition of 1801 (Naples, G. Amiconi), there are three modern editions: Florence, Guidi; Milan, Ricordi; Leipzig, Breitkopf u. Härtel.
