Minuet (String Quintet in E major, op. 11 no. 5)

Boccherini composed the six quintets of his op. 11 in 1771, while employed at the Madrid court of the Infante Don Luis, scoring them for two violins, viola and two cellos — the second cello his own part. The Minuet from the fifth quintet, in E major, detached itself from its surroundings within a generation and has since been arranged for almost every conceivable combination, from full orchestra to guitar. Little else of Boccherini's enormous output travelled so far. The movement's manner is deliberately unforced: a courtly dance kept transparent, the cellos supporting rather than competing.