La Casa del Diavolo

From the madrigalists and Monteverdi to Corelli and Vivaldi, Italian musical style dominated Europe from roughly 1550 to 1750, affecting the tastes and practices of musicians in London, Paris, and the Austro-German lands. And well did they learn, too, for after 1750 the tide had turned. The most successful purveyors of a new galant style—what we call the classical style—were born north of the Alps: Haydn, Mozart, J. Christian Bach, Beethoven, eventually Schubert and Mendelssohn. The exception is Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), perhaps the most prolific “minor master.” Son of a professional string player, Boccherini was born in Lucca and trained in Rome. He debuted early on the cello, which became his primary instrument and figures largely in his massive oeuvre: 11 cello concertos, 20 string symphonies, more than 100 sonatas, 48 trios, 90 quartets, and over 120 string quintets! He spent most of his life in Spain, being supported by private benefactors and royal appointments in Madrid.
While staying abreast of the major developments in European music, Boccherini always remained on the periphery, one outcome of his residency in Spain (which had long ago lost its dominant position in European politics and culture). Tonight we hear the dramatic Symphony in D Minor, subtitled “The House of the Devil,” which was composed in 1771. As one might anticipate, it opens with a foreboding slow introduction in the minor mode, but the following vibrant main theme in D major seems to eschew the subtitle. Boccherini resists the very programmatic interpretation his title argues for: no damnable tritones, no jabbing dissonant gestures. His brilliant string writing loses nothing in comparison with more famous contemporaries, and the slow movement—albeit in a minor key—generally maintains the easy grace of the previous Allegro. Thus the weight of this “Devil’s House” falls upon the energetic final Allegro, which carries it brilliantly. After a slow introduction, Boccherini’s fast, sinister main theme rushes in like an infernal wind. Recalling the great storm motifs of the Italian Baroque masters, this tempestuous finale is one of Boccherini’s finest creations.

(c) Jason Stell