Dynamic, Articulation and Special Effect Markings in Manuscript Sources of Luigi Boccherini’s String Quintets

Abstract

• Luigi Boccherini's chamber works form the largest part of his compositional output of nearly 500 works. In these works Boccherini included performance markings to a much greater extent that in his violoncello sonatas and concertos. His string quintets, in particular, present a large variety of dynamic, articulation and special-effect markings, constituting an important source for the study of eighteenth-century performance practice. Boccherini listed 125 string quintets in his thematic catalogue - composed between 1771 and 1802 - of which 113 were originally scored for two violoncellos and 12 for two violas. If we add to this number transcriptions he made for string quintet, his total output for this genre rises by at least another 24 works. The quintets were mostly composed during Boccherini's employment with the Spanish Infante Don Luis de Borbon between 1770 and 1785, and subsequently, during his employment with King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia, between 1786 and 1797. This study discusses dynamic, articulation, and special-effect markings in Boccherini's string quintets in terms of their notation and use. Special attention has been given to the manuscript sources of these works and in particular to Boccherini's autographs - located at the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung mit Mendelssohn-Archiv and the Bibliotheque nationale de France - in order to draw a clearer picture of the composer's notational habits, which are not always reflected in early and modern editions of these works. Since performance markings were not present to a great extent in eighteenth-century repertoire, particularly solo music, this study aims to add not only to the scholarship of Boccherini's individual notational and compositional practices, but also to the wider knowledge of eighteenth-century performance practice.