Quintetti per flauto G.438 – G.440 – G.442

The rediscovery and subsequent re-evaluation of Luigi Boccherini (Lucca 1743 – Madrid 1805) are both relatively recent occurrences. While extremely famous during his lifetime, Boccherini was almost completely forgotten after his death. It was not until the 1970s that numerous musicological studies began to restore him to his rightly deserved place in music history.
The quintets G.438-440-442 are in three movements and are designated (according to the terminology employed by the composer) as “opere grandi”. Boccherini in fact used this expression to define his own compositions in three or four movements; works with only two movements were called “opere piccole”.
The forces required–flute and string quartet–foresee the possibility of substituting the second violin with a concertante cello playing the same part (this was probably the case when Boccherini himself was one of the musicians).