Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid by Luigi Boccherini

Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid, meaning “Night Music on the streets of Madrid,” was orignally a string quintet and is an example of early programmatic music.  It attempts to recreate what Madrid iresidents would typically hear in the night—guitars, harps, military processions .  Boccherini wasn’t actually happy with it, telling his publisher “The piece is absolutely useless, even ridiculous, outside Spain because the audience cannot hope to understand its significance nor the performers to play it as it should be played.  Boccherini includes many instructions thoughout for the violins to be played like a guitar, which makes the work especially fitting here.   This arrangement extracts three movements—Tanz der Blinder, Largo Assai, and Passa Calle.  Available in Standard and Expanded 6.

Op. 30 E – score preview