A man with a mysterious life, a (possible) pioneer in de-fining the string quartet, Cambini composed works inclu-ding sinfonie concertanti, sonatas for various ensembles, and string quartets and quintets. Most of the quintents are hold at the Washington Library and deserve to be redis-covered for the way they blend a pre-Schubertian lyricism - with echoes of the Baroque and Boccherini - with a sonata form that, while still smaller in scale than that of the Romantic era, anticipates it's developments.