I fandanghi di Boccherini

There is some ambiguity referred to the two cellos Fandango Quintet Op. 40 n. 2 (G 341), since Boccherini states he wrote it in 1788, that is, for the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm II, while he indicates it was composed for his patron the Infant Don Luis de Borbón, dead in 1785. Digging into this incongruence, the authors have found previous “quotations” of this fandango in Op. 25 Quintets (n. 1 and n. 6, G 295 and 300) of 1778, suggesting that the Fandango Quintet might have been written before 1778 and that the later “quotations” might actually respond to Don Luis taste. Additionally, a similar “quotation” is to be found in Op. 64 n. 1 Quartet (G 248) of 1804, dedicated to Lucien Bonaparte. Also the Op. 40 n. 2 Fandango appears in one of the Guitar Quintets (G 448) of 1798, dedicated to the marquis of Benavent, and more subtle forms of the fandango can be found in the Minuetto of Op. 32 n. 6 Quartet (G 206) of 1780, and in the Minuetto (afandangado) of the Op. 55 n. 6 Oboe Quintet (G 436) of 1797.