Presents

Luigi Boccherini

Six String Trios for Two Violins & Cello-New Edition

Op.6 Nos. 1-6, G.89-94

While today the string quartet is the “King” of chamber music ensembles, during the last half of the 18th century, the string trio was the most popular chamber ensemble and virtually all of the active composers lavished their talents on them. As an evolving form, what we today have come to regard as the standard string trio, i.e. a work for violin, viola and cello, most composers did not write for this combination before 1785. Before then, the great majority of string trios were written for 2 violins and cello. Boccherini is a case in point. He wrote over 70 string trios, however, all but a dozen or so are for 2 violins and cello, rather than violin, viola and cello. Op.1 Nos.1 & 2 are the first and second of a set of six trios (it was then standard practice to compose and publish trios or quartets in sets of six), composed and published in Vienna in 1760. These trios are a representative example of the changing musical expression around the middle of the 18th century. They combine elements of late Baroque with the new emerging Classical style pioneered in Mannheim and Vienna. The trios are the descendants of earlier such works by Corelli and Tartini. The choice of three movements per work harks back to the Baroque as well as the placement of a slow, movement followed by two faster ones, seen in the last four of the six trios. However, the first two trios of the set, use the fast—slow—fast pattern which was the standard of the nascent Classical style.

The trios, which date from 1769, are generally in written in concertante style. But Boccherini’s thinking was, even at a young age, quite advanced in that the writing for the three voices is quite balanced and not merely shared between the two treble voices. Unlike his Op.14 "Great Trios", which were definitely intended for the concert hall, the Op.6 are more intimate and written on a simpler and smaller scale. Whereas nearly all of the Op.14 trios have 4 movements, the six trios of Op.6 only have three. The opening movement is typically a fast movement, sometimes with a slow introduction and the finale is usually a minuet. But several of the minuets are quite unusual, hardly sounding like minuets at all. The trios are highly inventive, elegant, and graceful and all exhibit fine part-writing.

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805) was born in the town of Lucca in northern Italy. He studied cello and became a virtuoso. But it was at a time that such players could not yet make a living from touring, so Boccherini found jobs in various orchestras in Vienna and Italy. Boccherini eventually moved to Paris where he hoped to establish himself as an independent soloist and composer but could not and was forced to take employment with the Spanish royal family for the rest of his life. 

These trios, though not as complex or showy as his Op.14 are nonetheless among the best from this period for string trio. Out of print for the better part of a century, we think players will certainly welcome the chance to add these trios to their collection.

 Parts: $39.95