Born: 1743-02-19 (Lucca, Italy)
Died: 1805-05-28 (Madrid, Spain)
Luigi Boccherini was an Italian composer and cellist of the Classical era whose music retained a courtly and galante style even while he matured somewhat apart from the major European musical centers. Boccherini is best known for a four-minute minuet (a dance) from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 (G 275), an all-time classic.