Luigi Boccherini was born in Lucca on 19 February 1743, the son of a cellist and double bass player. He soon became something of a child prodigy as a cellist himself: he made his debut at the age of thirteen, and in the next year he and his father travelled to Vienna to take up posts in the court theatre. He divided his time between Vienna and Lucca until 1766 when he set off on a concert tour with the violinist Filippo Manfredi. They spent more than a year in Paris before going on to Spain. Boccherini settled down there, joining the household of the Spanish Infante in 1770 as a composer and cellist and, in time, becoming a prominent figure of Madrid’s musical life. His patron died in 1785 but he continued to receive an income from the king and in later life worked for several leading members of Madrid society, including Lucien Bonaparte the French ambassador. He died in 1805.