8.8 (very popular)
Tune of the Day: Boccherini's Minuet
The greatest hit of Luigi Boccherini, this Minuet in A major is taken from his Quintet in E major for two violins, viola, and two cellos. It is quintessential Rococo, a delightful confection that has become known to an enormous audience in its various arrangements as the embodiment of the final years of the Ancien Régime in Europe.
Boccherini was primarily a composer of chamber music, although his symphonies and concerti have considerable merit. He produced more than 100 quintets, more than 100 quartets, more than 50 trios, and more than 50 chamber works in other forms.
Perhaps because his most significant work consists of chamber music and symphonies, Boccherini has often been compared to Joseph Haydn, usually to his disadvantage, like Vivaldi in relation to Johann Sebastian Bach.