Violine II (Musica notturna delle strade di Madrid)

Luigi Boccherini's (1743–1805) Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid (Night Music of the Streets of Madrid) is a seven-movement quintet for strings, dated in 1780. The work was very popular in Spain during Boccherini's lifetime, as evidenced by the arrangements of the last Ritirata movement for piano quintet (G418) and guitar quintet (G453). However, the work was not published until years after Boccherini's passing, as Boccherini commented to his publisher that 'the work is not understood outside Spain, because its significance is not recognized, nor do musicians understand how it should be performed'. For today's listeners, the Ritirata is best known for the symphony orchestral version (1975) by Italian composer Luciano Berio (1925–2003), which combines four independent variations of the movement into a simultaneously performed whole.

The present version now at hand of Musica Notturna Delle Strade di Madrid is based solely on Boccherini's original version for string quintet. In addition, the setting covers only the third Passacalle movement, also known by its nickname "Los Manolos", which stands for "loud singers of the underclass", and made famous particularly by the 2003 American epic adventure film Master and Commander: Far Side of the World, with Russell Grove as the leading actor. The setting begins in silence, depicting a still night in Madrid, leading from the introduction through a brief transition to an immersive principal theme, which is repeated three times, first by the second violin, then by the cello and finally as an ensemble composed for the second violin and viola, with the first violin accompanying the music with fast-paced, fractured arpeggio-chords. As the long-lined theme of the beginning returns at the end of the setting, the music fades away into the distance, finishing the setting just as it had started.